The Antidoping Switzerland Foundation Board has taken a positive view of integrating the Reporting Office for Misconduct in Swiss sport. The road ahead is now open for transforming the Foundation into ‘Swiss Sport Integrity’, involving additional fields of activity for protecting Swiss athletes.

The independent Antidoping Switzerland Foundation has fully functional and recognized structures in place which are tried and tested in the Swiss sporting system. The foundation is planned to be transformed into ‘Swiss Sport Integrity’, which will also tackle ethical violations and focus on the credibility of Swiss sport. The Foundation Board of Antidoping Switzerland is open to the proposal. “We are convinced that we can make an important contribution to the ethical future of Swiss sport,” says President Ueli Kurmann.

New regulations form the basis

The revised Ethics Regulations from Swiss Olympic forms the basis for the work carried out by ‘Swiss Sport Integrity’, which will allow the issue of sanctions. The revised ‘Code of Conduct’ was presented to all national sports federations and key stakeholders in sport and must be adopted by the delegates in November on the occasion of the Sports Parliament. As regards the concrete implementation, the rules of procedure will be formulated in close consultation with experts.

Important tasks for Swiss sport

With ‘Swiss Sport Integrity’, Swiss sport will have a secure point of contact to identify and address any wrongdoing as quickly as possible. “The entitlement to equal opportunity, fairness, and doping-free sport form the core of our work now and in the future, along with the health and well-being of our Swiss athletes,”. Ueli Kurmann affirms.

Safeguarding anti-doping work in Switzerland

The Foundation Board has emphasized that the new and additional tasks will not negatively affect the anti-doping work in any way; on the contrary, the aim is to utilize synergies between the two areas, wherever possible. Additional financial support from the Swiss federal government and Swiss Olympic has been earmarked for these new fields. This was assured during talks with the World Anti-Doping Agency. “Now is the time to reinforce the trust developed and placed in our Foundation and to protect clean athletes to ensure the credibility of the sport,” says Ueli Kurmann.