The Advisory Group on Education of the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention met in Vienna (Austria), on 21-22 November.

The meeting was also attended by Gorica Milovanović, coordinator for education at the Anti-Doping Agency of the Republic of Serbia.

Education is key to empowering athletes to navigate the anti-doping rules and adhering to clean sport. Experts shared experiences and best practices on how to design anti-doping education programmes and make them accessible to athletes at all levels. The voice of athletes, mutual recognition of education programmes and educators’ training were among the topics discussed.

A sanctioned athlete shared his perspective on anti-doping education and how it could be improved. Participants also discussed the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code and the International Standard for Education, as well as the future of anti-doping education, including digital learning and the athlete’s online environment.

The meeting, hosted by NADA Austria (the Austrian anti-doping organisation), brought together more than 50 education and anti-doping specialists from 30 States parties to the Convention, Observers from Japan, Kazakhstan, USA, Zimbabwe and international sport federations, as well as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The work of the Advisory Group on Education complements the work of the Advisory Groups on Compliance, Legal Issues and Science, each of which zooms into specific provisions of the Anti-Doping Convention.