WADA has made some threshold changes. But that is just the tip of the iceberg as far as needed changes, IMO.
1. WADA has no *functional* ethical standards. In the Houlihan case there were numerous violations of common ethical standards, but WADA did nothing. In 2016, The Guardian published an article entitled, “Can Anti-Doping Bodies Maintain Their Scientific Integrity? The Answer Is Troubling.” I’ll post the link here, but links seem to end up at the bottom of my posts. The lack of ethics pointed out in this article has not changed. Without a major change and a real Ethics Working Group (with 100% of participants outside of WADA and sports science), nothing will make it fair for the athlete.
2. WADA science is a mixture of tiny studies that are mis-represented at hearings, speculation, hidden research results that the athlete & representatives are not privy to and WADA scientists doing the best they can with little funding. They need a Research Working Group (with 100% of participants outside of WADA and sports science and with expertise in research design and interpretation). This Group should have oversight on research design and how it is interpreted for use in Technical Documents and for use at hearings. In fact, someone with these qualifications should be at every CAS hearing as a scientific “translator” for the arbiters.
3. The A Samples results should be given to the athlete within 10 days. None of this 30-60 day delay making it virtually impossible to track down and test items. Any delay changes the a doping positive to non-positive result.
4. The athlete should have 30 days to respond to a positive test. Most athletes are not biochemists and need more time than a laboratory.
5. All bodies involved in anti-doping and abiding by WADA rules should preface each anti-doping violation decision that is disputed by the athlete with statement such as: “While we have decided to sanction this athlete based on WADA and [AIU] rules, nothing in this decision should be interpreted as proving the athlete was intentionally doping. WADA, [AIU] are not infallible. There can be mistakes and misinterpretations made involving scientific research. If the athlete agrees to waive their privacy rights, we will publish online the transcript of the hearing as well related documentation.”
6. How in the hell are most athletes able to afford the $50k-$100k+ to mount a defense?! Something needs to be done about this for athletes who aren’t swimming in cash.
There are numerous other issues: don’t store samples in a private home freezer, how to deal with a proven uncooperative vendor/company.