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Annual Press Conference of NADA Germany 2024

04.06.2024

At its annual press conference on Tuesday at the Conference Centre of the Federal Press Conference in Berlin, the National Anti Doping Agency of Germany (NADA Germany) looked back on its work in 2023 and gave an overview of current anti-doping topics.

"The past year was extremely exciting for NADA Germany, and not just because of the content of its work. In July, Dr Andrea Gotzmann stepped down as the long-standing Chairwoman of the Executive Board. The Supervisory Board appointed Dr Eva Bunthoff and myself as the new Executive Board duo. Bunthoff also took over the management of the Testing Department in February 2024. We stand for continuity and will jointly contribute our many years of experience to clean sport," said Dr Lars Mortsiefer, CEO of NADA Germany.

"Our task is to help ensure that all athletes have the chance to compete fairly. The further development of doping education and the testing programme therefore remains the focus of NADA Germany. In addition, the current revision of the World Anti-Doping Code 2027 is an important building block on the way to equal opportunities worldwide," explained Mortsiefer: "However, we also see that the rules are currently being interpreted differently around the world and that there are many questions, especially with regard to how the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is dealing with the incidents in Chinese swimming. We are in favour of a complete, transparent and independent review and hope to receive well-founded answers in a timely manner. In our view, this is the only way to maintain trust in the integrity of the international anti-doping system."

"In 2023, NADA Germany further expanded the important prevention activities as part of its TOGETHER AGAINST DOPING education programme. The aim is to reach young athletes as a primary target group at an early stage and to inform them about the sport of tomorrow and, if possible, before the first doping test by offering a wide range of educational programmes at eye level,' explained Bunthoff, member of NADA Germany's Executive Board: ’The further development of the testing programme is one of NADA's most important tasks for the protection of clean athletes. NADA Germany supports research projects and innovations in this area. In 2023, for example, the digital matrix of samples was analysed for the first time in order to detect doping. At the same time, NADA Germany has promoted the use of the new Dried Blood Spot Matrix to facilitate the testing process."

"Findings from Intelligence & Investigations work and cooperation with state investigative authorities also make a significant contribution to clean sport. NADA Germany has expanded national and international cooperation in this context. The Criminal Law on Doping Training and Research Initiative was launched last year. NADA Germany was also part of an EU-funded WADA project to strengthen intelligence and investigation work in Europe," reported Mortsiefer.

"However, well-founded anti-doping work is only possible if NADA Germany always has sufficient financial resources at its disposal. NADA Germany is therefore very pleased that, thanks to the support of the German government, there has even been a slight increase in funding for the year 2024 with many major national and international sporting events in Germany. This will enable NADA Germany to implement important anti-doping measures in Germany and at the same time emphasise its high international reputation. NADA Germany hopes to continue to receive support from Parliament in the coming years in order to maintain the high quality of its anti-doping work," said Mortsiefer.