WADA Director General, David Howman has visited Melbourne where he spoke on Challenges to the Integrity of Sport on the twenty fifth anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association Annual (ANZSLA) Conference
It is a privilege to address this very important conference, but also a personal pleasure to return to ANZSLA on its twenty fifth anniversary, and to be able to partake in the celebrations.
One of the big dangers facing sport today is the loss of integrity that comes from doping. There are many other challenges to the integrity of sport and I will address those also this morning.
Turning first to doping. Doping undermines the values of sport. The intrinsic values of sport, often referred to as “the spirit of sport” is the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind, and is characterized by values such as ethics, honesty, respect for rules, self-respect and respect for others, fair play and healthy competition. If sport is void of these values (and others) it might be argued it is no longer sport.
I want to take the opportunity of addressing issues that challenge those values and the integrity of sport by first looking at the experiences WADA has had in its fifteen years of operation.
As WADA has communicated many times, doping is no longer an issue that is confined within elite sporting boundaries. Rather, it is a problem that permeates other areas of our society, and has a much wider impact than it did several decades ago when it first became a major challenge for sport.
Find full speech at WADA website
