The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has endorsed the revised ‘whereabouts' rules of the ICC and stated that they were in line with the International Standards for Testing.
Expectedly, WADA has pointed out that the anti-doping code afforded discretion to the international federations as to which athletes should be subjected to ‘whereabouts' requirements.
“WADA is not responsible for deciding who should be part of these registered testing pools,” WADA Director General David Howman stated in a release from Montreal on Friday.
“In team sports, whereabouts information can be submitted by team officials on a collective basis as part of the team's activities,” Howman said.
Howman said that it was important to remember that ‘whereabouts' requirements were a practical tool to help anti-doping organisations conduct effective out-of-competition testing. “Athletes can still be tested out-of-competition at any time by their IF, their NADO (National Anti-Doping Organisation) or other anti-doping organisations,” he said.
Meanwhile, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement: “After a long and thorough process, we now have a tough and practical set of rules that will support our zero-tolerance approach to doping in our great sport.
“All of us are now satisfied that we have a code and rules that will support out-of-competition testing and protect international cricket from those who wish to cheat.”
