Foreword
This is the first annual report from Doping Authority Netherlands. Until 2018, the work of the National Anti-Doping Organisation in our country was done by the Netherlands Anti-Doping Authority (the ADAN foundation). However, since 2019, that work has been taken over by the independent administrative body (zbo) Doping Authority Netherlands.
The transfer of tasks and resources by the ADAN foundation to the zbo Doping Authority Netherlands took place on 1 January 2019 but the preparations were made in the course of 2018. A lot was done by an external project manager who was able to work on this project for a large part of the year. The transition process was supervised by a Steering Committee on which the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, the board of the ADAN foundation and the then-future CEO of the zbo were represented. The Steering Committee was chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, who has been acting as the 'owner' of the zbo from 2019 onwards. As a result of all this preparatory work, the actual transition proceeded smoothly at the beginning of the new year. The transfer of staff, property, databases and rights was completed in line with a transition agreement between the ADAN foundation and the zbo Doping Authority Netherlands.
Thanks to this smooth handover, Doping Authority Netherlands was able, from day one, to continue implementing the anti-doping policy along the lines already set out in previous years by the ADAN foundation. However, unlike the ADAN foundation, Doping Authority Netherlands has statutory duties that are enshrined in the Anti-Doping Policy Implementation Act (Wuab).
In Chapter 1, we report on how one of those duties has been implemented: ‘providing information about doping’ (Wuab, Article 5(d)). Chapters 2, 4, and 8 contain information about the implementation of the various aspects of ‘the implementation of the doping control process’ (Wuab, Article 5(b)). Chapter 3 turns to ‘the collection and investigation of information about possible violations of doping regulations’ (Wuab, Article 5(c)). The other chapters provide information relating to the implementation of a range of support tasks and processes needed to implement the statutory duties in a correct way.
The transition to an independent administrative body has not resulted in any substantive changes to the content of the anti-doping policy but it has resulted in relatively far-reaching changes in our relationship with the Dutch government, and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in particular. Despite the thorough preparations for the transition, Doping Authority Netherlands was regularly confronted during the course of 2019 with unknown, or previously unknown, procedures and standards with which Doping Authority Netherlands was required to comply. This all led to an intensification of the relationship with the Ministry. At the same time, the relationship with the 'sports world', and in particular with the sports umbrella organisation NOC*NSF, was continued and cherished.
As an independent administrative body, Doping Authority Netherlands is also covered by the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wet openbaarheid bestuur, abbreviated as Wob) and it handled five public information requests, including one after an objection. Doping Authority Netherlands is also governed by the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet bestuursrecht, abbreviated as Awb) and the CEO made four decisions on objections. All the requests, appeals and objections were published (after anonymisation) on the website of Doping Authority Netherlands.