Sawt Falasteen - Major sports anti-doping conference opens with call for unity

"This unity has been tested," Banka told the opening ceremony of WADA's sixth World Conference on Doping in Sport, being held this week in the South Korean city of Busan.

"Recently some voices have chosen confrontation over cooperation, speaking as if their nations or institutions stand above others, as if only they acted with integrity."

The Pole's remarks to an audience that included IOC president Kirsty Coventry come just over a year after an internal investigation cleared WADA of pro-China bias.

The agency was rocked by a scandal involving 23 Chinese swimmers who were cleared of doping after testing positive for a banned heart drug in 2021.

Chinese investigators cleared the swimmers -- some of whom went on to win Olympic gold in Tokyo that year -- of wrongdoing, saying the athletes had been exposed to the drug via a contaminated hotel kitchen.

WADA opted not to independently investigate the matter, sparking controversy, especially with the United States and its anti-doping organisation, USADA.

Following WADA's decision, the US government withdrew $3.6 million in funding, resulting in the removal of US representatives from the body's executive committee.

Banka, who has been president since January 2020, did not mention any one country by name in his remarks in Busan.

He said: "To those who behave as though they come from 'better' systems, expecting the world to follow their personal crusades, we say respectfully but firmly: no.

"Anti-doping does not belong to one nation or one personality."

Banka added: "Let us stand together, not divided by borders or ideology, but united by responsibility."

L.AbuTayeh--SF-PST