WADA announces candidates for 2022 Athlete Council election
Further to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) communications of 30 May 2022 and 6 July 2022, calling for interested candidates for the upcoming election for eight positions on the Agency’s new 20-member Athlete Council, WADA is pleased to announced that it received 34 eligible nominations for the eight seats (referred to as Group 2 – see below). WADA President Witold Bańka said: “We are excited by the number of athletes that have expressed interest in becoming members of the Athlete Council. It is clear that athletes are ready to embrace the opportunity for their voices to be heard and their views to be integrated into WADA’s governance and decision-making processes.” The 34 candidates are listed below in alphabetical order by name. A consolidation of the athlete profiles, with additional details can be found in one document here. Name Sport Nationality Nominating International FederationAthlete Commission 1 BATES, Evan USA International Skating Union (ISU) 2 BENGTSSON, Gunnar Sweden World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) 3 BERRER, Michael Germany International Tennis Federation (ITF) 4 ĆOSIĆ, Ivan Croatia World ParaVolley (WPV) 5 EGAN, Clare USA Biathlon (IBU) 6 GARCIA G., Andrés Guatemala Kickboxing (WAKO) 7 GIBSON, Sean Ireland World Lacrosse (WL) 8 GOMEZ, Inaki Canada World Athletics (WA) 9 HARSS, Jennifer Germany International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) 10 HEDMAN, Deta England World Darts Federation (WDF) 11 HEGYI, Dora Hungary International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) 12 HERNANDEZ CUELLAR, Ana Sophia Guatemala World Pentathlon (UIPM) 13 HORN, Martin Germany World Confederation of Billiards Sports (WCBS) 14 KIT, Kristen Canada World Rowing (WR-FISA) 15 KNOERR, Jérémy Thailand International Ski Mountaineering Fed. (ISMF) 16 KONSTANTINOVA, Sandra Russia International Wushu Federation (IWUF) 17 LIM, Tiffani Malaysia International Esports Federation (IESF) 18 MAY, Bill USA International Swimming Federation (FINA) 19 MAZDZER, Christopher USA Federation of International Luge (FIL) 20 MBEPA GAULOU, Antony Desire Rep of Congo International Kurash Association (IKA) 21 ODUBER, Randolph Aruba/ Netherlands World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) 22 O'LEARY, Patrick Ireland International Canoe Federation (ICF) 23 OSEI, Forrester Christopher Ghana International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 24 PLECHAN, Agata Poland International Floorball Federation (IFF) 25 REGO, Emmanuel Fernando Scheffer Rego Brazil International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) 26 RIPPEL, Cassio Brazil International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) 27 RISKALLA, Rodolpho Brazil Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) 28 SABLJAK, Ella Australia International Wheelchair Basketball Fed. (IWBF) 29 SCOTT, Thomas USA World Karate Federation (WKF) 30 TAN, Yuhan Belgium Badminton World Federation (BWF) 31 VAN DEN BERG, Jan South Africa International Practical Shooting Confed. (IPSC) 32 VIDAL HERRERA, Nilo Spain World Squash Federation (WSF) 33 WYATT, Marcus Great Britain International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Fed. (IBSF) 34 ZECCHINI, Alessia Italy World Underwater Federation (CMAS) Eligibility To be eligible for nomination, athletes were required to meet eligibility criteria, as outlined in Article 4 of the WADA Athlete Council Election Procedure. These included: being an International-Level Athlete as defined by the World Anti-Doping Code, within the last nine years, and being from the same sport as the International Federation Athlete Commission (IF AC) nominating them. In addition, the IF AC nominating an athlete was required to meet eligibility criteria, as outlined in Article 3 of the Election Procedure. All 34 candidates were reviewed and confirmed by the Election Scrutineer. To be eligible to vote in the election, all IF ACs were to meet the same criteria as an IF AC nominating a candidate. All IF ACs were advised of the candidate list on 29 July 2022, and were then asked to advise if they wished to vote in the election, and if so, to confirm they were eligible to vote. A total of 61 IF ACs have been confirmed by the Election Scrutineer as able to vote. Election The election will be held virtually via an online voting platform between 29-31 August 2022. Only those IF ACs registered and deemed eligible will be able to vote. The elected candidates will be confirmed by the Election Scrutineer on 1 September and will be announced by WADA shortly after. WADA Athlete Committee Chair Ben Sandford said: “We are definitely off to a good start with the elections for the Athlete Council. Athletes need to be at the core of what WADA does and there is a strong drive within the athlete community worldwide to be more involved and improve athlete representation within anti-doping. It’s great to see so many athletes stepping up wanting to be involved and meet the challenge.” Council Composition The new Athlete Council will be composed of athletes’ representatives chosen by athletes and grouped as follows: Group 1: Five athletes appointed by the International Olympic Committee’s and International Paralympic Committee’s Athlete Commissions; Group 2: Eight athletes elected by the Athlete Commissions of International Federations (IFs); and Group 3: Seven other athletes, to be selected by an appointment panel made up by a majority of athletes, to fill skills and diversity gaps. Group 3 A call for interest for the Group 3 athletes will be announced in early September 2022. All eligible athletes, including candidates for Group 2 who did not get elected, will be able to apply. Candidates will then be selected by the appointment panel based on a skills and diversity analysis. For more information on the Athlete Council, please visit WADA’s dedicated webpage. Source:
