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25 August 2023
The ITA’s partnership with Caribbean RADO focuses on harmonising testing efforts to ensure an effective allocation of resources and intelligence-led programs at both national and international levels. The collaboration also supports the exchange of information between the ITA and the Caribbean RADO to the benefit of potential investigations and intelligence-led doping controls in the countries and for the athletes it represents. Finally, the collaboration also extends to identifying mutual efficiencies and opportunities for capacity building in the area of anti-doping education.
The Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization is based in Barbados and acts as the secretariat to coordinate anti-doping efforts in the countries of Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Virgin Islands (US), Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands. It was established in 2005, one year after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) created the RADO program to strengthen the protection of athletes in regions where countries organise their anti-doping efforts within regional conglomerates and is one of three RADOs in the Americas. It is the third RADO to enter a partnership with the ITA after the Central Asian and Panamerican RADOs.
“We are very pleased to officialise our collaboration with the Caribbean RADO and strengthen our network of partnerships in the Americas,” said ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen. “Through our joint agreement we can work hand in hand to enhance anti-doping efforts for international-level athletes from the countries the Caribbean RADO represents and those who are tested within their territory. Seamless information-sharing between our two organisations will furthermore ensure that investigations into any potential doping offences can be conducted across borders and regions. I welcome the Caribbean RADO to our network of partnerships with national and regional anti-doping organisations and look forward to working with them for our joint cause of fair play and clean sport.”
“The Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization is committed to fostering a clean-sport environment, ensuring that our member countries are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code, while protecting the rights of athletes,” said Patrick Werleman, Chairman of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization. “As such, we focus on establishing key partnerships with regional and international organizations. We are enthusiastic about the new collaboration agreement between the Caribbean RADO and the International Testing Agency (ITA). We have worked well with the ITA on numerous occasions; and this MOU further highlights our continued commitment to the delivery of high-quality anti-doping services. The Caribbean RADO coordinates most of the sample collection in our member countries on behalf of local, regional, and international sporting bodies. This collaboration with the ITA is especially valuable in the areas of testing, information sharing and intelligence. We are looking forward to working closer and more effectively with the ITA to the benefit of our member countries and the Caribbean region as a whole.”
The ITA has already established bilateral collaboration agreements with over 30 National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisations on all continents of the world. The ITA strongly believes that the anti-doping community is able to bring the support of athletes to the next level by working hand-in-hand with all other anti-doping organisations. Consequently, the ITA will continue to welcome to its network any National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisation that wishes to strengthen synergies between national and international level anti-doping programs.
