Male, Maldives: The South Asia Regional Anti-Doping Organization (SARADO) conducted a series of activities in Male, capital of the Maldives, from April 28 to May 1. Under the patronage of the Ministry for Youth and Sport, SARADO held its first regional seminar on anti-doping in sport, funded through the UNESCO Fund for Elimination of Doping in Sport, from April 28-29.
The seminar featured the participation of National Olympic Committees and government representatives from each member country and aimed to raise the level of awareness of anti-doping programs and the crucial roles of the decision-makers.

At the inauguration ceremony, His Excellency Mr Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, Minister for Youth and Sport, stressed the importance of consolidating efforts to eradicate doping in sport. He pointed out that the Ministry for Youth and Sport worked closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and SARADO to ensure an efficient and effective implementation of anti-doping programs in the region.

HE Mr Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the former Minister for Human Resources, Youth and Sport, patronized the closing ceremony and thanked all participants for their active participation. Speakers from WADA – Mr Tom May, Senior Manager, Program Development, and Mr Kazuhiro Hayashi, Director of Asia/Oceania Regional Office – gave a comprehensive briefing on recent WADA updates and shed light on the changes to the World Anti-Doping Code.

Ms Nadiah Al Shamali, Acting Manager of the OCA Doping Control Department, tackled the crucial roles played by the National and Regional Anti-Doping Organization, governments and the NOCs and other agencies in establishing a concrete bridge of cooperation amongst the stakeholders to ensure that all elements of anti-doping programs are in place.

Mr Gobinathan Nair, Director General of the Southeast Asia RADO (SEARADO), shared his experiences on anti-doping education and gave a brief presentation on SEARADO. Dr Saroj Shrestha, Chairman of SARADO, also gave a presentation on the history of SARADO, highlighting the most important activities held in the region since its establishment in 2007.

The 2014 SARADO Board Meeting was held on April 30 and attended by representatives of Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as well as WADA and OCA. The Director General of SEARADO also attended as an observer and shared his experience in operating the office with his counterpart in SARADO. With the significant changes in the Code 2015, a training workshop on results management was held on May 1. The course was delivered by Mr Tony Jackson from United Kingdom Anti-Doping.

Bhutan was represented by Mrs. Tshering Lham, Mr. Nima Gyeltshen and Dr. Tenzing Norsang.