Achievements and good practices of the Belgium’s anti-doping system Visit report the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) to the Council of Europe
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At the invitation of the Secretariat of the Convention against the use of doping in sport to the Council of Europe (T-DO), the General Secretary of the Anti-Doping Centre Mrs. Silvia Mindova took part in an evaluation team of the Monitoring Group of the Anti-Doping Convention (T-DO) with a visit in Brussels, Belgium in the period 24.01.-26.01.2023. The purpose of the visit was to assess and prepare a report on the compliance of the anti-doping activities in Belgium with the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention.
The evaluation team learned about the activities of Belgium's four anti-doping organizations and considered the respective decentralized responsibilities between the Flemish, French and German-speaking communities, as well as those of the Community Commission in the Brussels-Capital Region.
The team met with the Belgium's anti-doping disciplinary authorities, representatives of state authorities, sports federations and athletes, as well as external partners, experts representing police services, magistrates and others.
One of the several objectives of the evaluation team was to analyze the actions and policies of the state and health authorities in the direction of the fight against doping in Belgium, as well as the research approaches and their results, including the study on the topic "Prevalence and effects of performance-enhancing drugs of effectiveness in different groups: Lessons for preventive and curative policy in Belgium' (PREVPED).
The findings of the evaluation report recognize Belgium's commitment to the anti-doping efforts. In addition to the measures taken by the four anti-doping organizations, the country has effective mechanisms of collaboration between public entities such as the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Federal Police, and the Federal Public Service for Health and the Ghent Anti-Doping Laboratory to strengthen the fight against doping. The activities of implementing a cooperation agreement among the Communities and the establishing of a cooperation protocol among the anti-doping organizations and law enforcement authorities are presented as best practices. In the visit report, Belgium's commitment to the fight against doping is further highlighted through the “Play True Day” initiative and the creation by the NADO of the French Community of an education kit for primary school teachers.
The evaluation team recommends efforts to strengthen the operational independence of the four anti-doping organizations and to increase the resources allocated to them.
A full set of good practices and recommendations for further improvement of the compliance are available in the Anti-Doping Convention Monitoring Group (T-DO) evaluation report, which can be accessed at the following link: https://rm.coe.int/t-do-2023-28-en-evaluation-report-belgium-2023-adopted/1680ae6aa9
Additional information about the visit and the activities of the Council of Europe can be found at:https://www.coe.int/en/web/sport/-/how-does-belgium-s-anti-doping-system-function-our-evaluation-report-is-now-online
