By Daniel Etchells |
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has today celebrated Play True Day alongside athletes, national and regional anti-doping organizations, sports federations, major event organizers and other anti-doping stakeholders from around the globe.
Play True Day is dedicated to clean sport and is intended to raise awareness among athletes, the public and others about the global fight against doping.
The inspiration for the initiative stems from a 2013 WADA-hosted education conference, which was attended by 17 Latin American countries which were the driving force behind April 10 being declared Play True Day.
While it started as a small initiative, this grassroots movement has gained momentum with numerous organisations and countries taking part.
This year, in a spirit of solidarity among the anti-doping community, WADA has invited stakeholders and others to celebrate Play True Day on their digital and social media platforms using one of the branded frames created especially for the day.
WADA is also encouraging the use of the hashtag #PlayTrueDay in order to maximize the impact of the event on social media.
“WADA wishes to acknowledge and thank everyone participating in Play True Day events around the world,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said.
“Every year, more countries and organizations join the campaign and are helping to turn it into a truly global event.
“This worldwide momentum helps to raise awareness about the importance of clean sport and promotes positive sport values on a broad scale.”
Earlier this week, World Para Powerlifting, which has a reputation for being the dirtiest sport on the Paralympic program, announced its support for Play True Day and emphasized its commitment to sport which is clean of doping.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has banned more competitors in powerlifting than any other sport on the program.
Only last month, it was announced that Kyrgyzstan powerlifter Esen Kaliev had been banned by the IPC for four years after returning an adverse analytical finding for methasterone metabolite in a urine sample.
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.