Philippines-WADA issue referred to CAS

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has gained some reprieve on allegations of non-conformities with World Anti-Doping Agency’s international standard for code compliance, with the issue being referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Philippine National Anti-Doping Agency (PHI-NADO), under the auspices of the Philippine Sports Commission disputed WADA’s allegation, prompting the latter to elevate the matter to CAS.

“On 13 February, WADA received formal notification from the NADO (national anti-doping agency) of the Philippines that it disputes the allegations of non-compliance against it,” said WADA in a statement posted on its website.

“WADA will now refer the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for its consideration. As such, the consequences will not apply until CAS makes its ruling,” it added.

PSC chairman Richard Bachmann had yet to comment on the matter at press time. Same with PHI-NADO chair Dr. Alejandro Pineda Jr.

But Philippine sports could breathe a sigh of relief as it avoided the punishment suffered by Angola, whose flag will no longer be flown in WADA-sanctioned events including the Olympics.

Unlike the Philippines, Angola decided not to contest WADA’s allegation that led to it being slapped with a stiff sanction.

Angola’s specific offense was its “failure to implement the 2021 version of the WADA Code” while the Philippines was being accused of not resolving “a number of critical non-conformities, as identified from WADA’s Code Compliance Questionnaire exercise.”

With these, both countries were placed in WADA’s “watchlist” in September last year and were given until January this year to execute corrective action plans.

While the country had taken some actions to rectify the impasse, WADA said the issue remained unsolved and gave the Philippines 21 days to either dispute or accept the allegation of non-compliance.

The Philippines chose to dispute, leaving its fate now at the hands of CAS.