Preface
This is the annual report from Doping Authority Netherlands for 2022. Until 2019, the Netherlands Anti-Doping Authority (the ADAN foundation) did the work of the National Anti-Doping Organisation in our country. However, effective 2019, those tasks have been taken over by the independent administrative body (zbo) Doping Authority Netherlands. An independent administrative body implements government tasks defined by law. The Anti-Doping Policy Implementation Act (Wuab) lists the tasks of Doping Authority Netherlands.
In Chapter 1, we report on how we have implemented our remit of ‘providing information about doping’ (Wuab, Article 5(d)). Chapters 2, 4, and 8 describe various aspects of ‘the implementation of the doping control process’ (Wuab, Article 5(b)). Chapter3 contains information about ‘the collection and investigation of information about possible violations of doping regulations’ (Wuab, Article 5(c)). The other chapters cover the implementation of a range of support tasks and processes needed to fulfil the statutory remit in a correct way.
The corona pandemic continued to have an impact on the work of Doping Authority Netherlands in the first two months of 2022. During those months, it was very difficult to fulfil the authority’s remit. The implementation of doping controls and education activities resumed from March 2022 onwards. I am proud that we have fulfilled the objectives. We collected 3,185 samples that were analysed by the WADA-accredited laboratory.
As an independent administrative body, Doping Authority Netherlands is also covered by the Government Information (Public Access) Act (Wet openbaarheid bestuur (Wob)). Since 1 May 2022, that act has been replaced by the Open Government Act (Wet open overheid (Woo)). No requests for information pursuant to the Wob or Woo were received in 2022. However, Doping Authority Netherlands did make several documents publicly available through its corporate website. They included documents from the Advisory Board and the Management Team, and policy documents. In this way, Doping Authority Netherlands complies with the statutory best-efforts requirement to actively disclose as much information as possible.
Doping Authority Netherlands is also governed by the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet bestuursrecht, Awb) and one decision was taken about an objection in 2022. This decision was published (after anonymisation) on the corporate website of Doping Authority Netherlands. Doping Authority Netherlands has its own Complaints Procedure in addition to the arrangements under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb). It was used once in 2022.