Friday on the sidelines of his visit to the Center Sport for Hope, Edwing Charles, the new Minister of Youth and Sports on the sidelines asked about the threat of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) exclusion in January 2019 of Haitian athletes from all international competitions due to the absence of a National Anti-Doping Agency in Haiti, explained "In a letter sent last July to the Minister of Youth, Sports and Civic Action and the President of the Haitian Olympic Committee (COH), WADA recalled that we are in violation of the anti-doping rules. It also granted us six months to do everything possible to create, by decree, our agency following the signature by the Haitian government and the ratification by the Parliament of a Convention on doping since 2005."

While there is only 3 months remaining on the deadline granted by the WAMA, the Minister Charles, undertakes to avoid to the national sport the severe and heavy sanctions and affirmed that he will present this file to the next Council of Ministers in order to decide on the steps to be taken to set up this Agency which will consist of 5 members (2 from the Government, 2 from the COH and one from the Bar of Port-au-Prince)

Hans Larsen, the President of the COH, welcomed Minister Edwing Charles's interest in this important issue [as he was also delighted in 2015 with then Minister Jimmy Albert on the same issue https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13197-haiti-sports-towards-the-establishment-of-a-national-anti-doping-agency.html ] hopes that every effort will be made to enable Haiti to comply with the doping control requirements for athletes of all National Olympic Committees and to prevent Haitian athletes from being excluded from international sports competitions in the future.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25579-haiti-flash-haiti-can-be-excluded-from-all-international-sports-competitions.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-13197-haiti-sports-towards-the-establishment-of-a-national-anti-doping-agency.html

BF/ HaitiLibre