Dr. Jihad Haddad participated in the 18th international governmental meeting on anti-doping in sports, held in Riyadh, which included representatives from 35 countries from Asia and Oceania. The meeting took place over two days in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. Dr. Haddad's participation was authorized by the Minister of Youth and Sports in the caretaker government, Dr. George Khallas, allowing him to represent Lebanon at this important international meeting.
During the conference, Haddad delivered a speech discussing the measures taken by relevant authorities to combat doping in Lebanon and the achievements made in this regard. He highlighted that Lebanon joined the UNESCO treaty against doping and hosted an international conference last October on the subject, attended by the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), along with Executive Director Olivier Niggli, Asia and Oceania Office Director Kazuhiro Hiyashi, head of the West Asia Anti-Doping Organization Dr. Kamal Al-Haddidi, and the Lebanese sports family. He described the conference as very fruitful.
Haddad emphasized the significant attention given to the anti-doping issue in Lebanon, despite the country’s severe economic conditions over the past three and a half years. He also discussed the initiatives taken by Lebanese sports officials to combat doping and to conduct awareness campaigns in this field.
While in Colombo, Dr. Haddad met with several officials. It is noteworthy that Dr. Haddad serves as the national coordinator for the National Coordination Committee for Combating Doping, which was formed two years ago, chaired by the head of the sports sector in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the general director of the General Authority for Sports, Youth, and Scout Facilities, Mohamed Awadat.
