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Polish sports minister set to be announced as new head of WADA

07.11.2019 08:30
Polish Sports Minister Witold Bańka was on Thursday set to be officially announced as the next head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Witold Bańka
Witold BańkaPhoto: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

The announcement was expected to be made at a conference in the southern Polish city of Katowice.

Bańka was in May picked to be the new head of the international drug-fighting body beginning next year.

He was at the time selected over Marcos Diaz of the Dominican Republic at a meeting of government representatives in Montreal, Canada.

The Pole, 35, is set to take over as the organisation’s new head effective January 1.

The former 400-metres runner-turned-politician was in 2017 appointed a member of the executive committee of the international sports doping watchdog.

In January he won a key vote by a committee within the Council of Europe to become Europe’s candidate to succeed outgoing WADA President Craig Reedie.

The World Anti-Doping Agency was established in 1999 as an international, independent organisation funded by sports bodies and governments.

In 2017, a new Polish Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA) began operating to step up the fight against drug cheats in sports.

Bańka on Tuesday vowed to make every effort to keep sports “clean” from doping cheats.

(gs/pk)