World Anti-Doping Agency Re-Elects President Witold Banka
The World Anti-Doping Agency Foundation Board has re-elected president Witold Banka for a final three-year term, it announced Thursday.
The board also renewed its commitment to Vice President Yang Yang for another term. Both will start their terms on Jan. 1, 2026 and run through the end of 2028.
Banka received 36 votes with two abstentions. Yang’s reelection was unanimous.
Banka, a 40-year-old from Poland, was elected in May 2019 and assumed office on Jan. 1, 2020. He competed in track and field internationally. He navigated WADA through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and through the Chinese doping scandal in which WADA cleared the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency for allowing 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in early 2021 to compete and win medals at the Tokyo Olympics that summer.
An independent prosecutor appointed by WADA cleared WADA of any wrongdoing in that matter, and WADA’s board has offered a similar self-dealing stamp of approval by continuing Banka’s tenure on up to the maximum of nine years.
Banka gave an address to the Board after the vote in a virtual meeting:
“I am deeply honored by the Foundation Board’s continued trust in me and in the leadership team of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Today’s result reaffirms our shared mission and values. I accept this final three-year term as President of WADA with humility, purpose and a deep sense of responsibility, and I look forward to continuing to do so alongside Yang Yang, who has been an exceptional partner on this journey. Her vision, integrity, and unwavering commitment to clean sport have played a vital role in every major success we’ve achieved together.
“Despite the many challenges we have faced over the past five and a half years, it has also been a period of transformation, of resilience, and of undeniable progress. We look forward to building on the momentum we have created together and to driving even greater success for WADA and the global anti-doping community. In our final term, we are committed to continue strengthening the global anti-doping system by elevating the athlete experience; expanding the impact of our science, development, compliance and intelligence work and much more. We look forward to working collaboratively with WADA leadership and staff, and our stakeholders around the world, to meet our shared objectives and exceed them – together, transparently and with the sole purpose of protecting clean sport.”
The WADA announcement highlighted a number of achievement’s in Banka’s tenure, including “wide-ranging governance reforms,” expansion of the Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network built off efforts in Europe; investment of $17 million in more than 160 scientific research projects; and a 57 percent increase in WADA’s annual budget since 2019 to $57.5 million.
Yang, who won five Olympic medals (two gold) in short track speed staking for China, took office at the same time as Banka. The optics of a high-profile Chinese former athlete being in a position of power while WADA negotiated a crisis borne of Chinese sports apparently did not weigh on board voters.
From Yang’s address:
“Serving as Vice-President of the World Anti-Doping Agency has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I enter this final term determined and fully committed to continuing the meaningful work we do each and every day. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend another term alongside President Banka and look forward to devoting the next three and a half years to completing the work we started in 2020.
“Over our first two terms, WADA has made significant strides in education and athlete relations. Today, education is a pillar of the anti-doping system, and WADA has fully embraced the shift towards being an athlete-centered organization following its 2022 Governance Reforms. Athletes are a permanent fixture around the decision-making table and will continue to play a key role in the advancement of the anti-doping system over the course of our final term.”