Montreal: Six countries could find themselves banned from the Olympics and other major sporting competitions, an impatient World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) warned on Wednesday after declaring the nations non-compliant.
North Korea, El Salvador, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Virgin Islands (US) were all deemed to be out of step with the revised WADA code after failing to provide the agency with draft rules or information about their rules drafting process.
“We came across a very small number of people who have done precisely nothing for a period of 17-18 months and they have had seven or eight reminders,” WADA president Sir Craig Reedie said at the conclusion of Wednesday’s Foundation Board meeting.
“At the end of the day, the whole compliance system will collapse if you don’t have some form of sanctions.
“My guess is that the information that they might be declared non-compliant might just encourage the anti-doping people of North Korea to [take action]...and become compliant.”
After accepting the code, nations must then determine how it would be implemented with rules and policies. These anti-doping rules must then be submitted to WADA for review in order to determine if they are in line with the revised code.