Samoa & Korea in Partnership over Sports Anti-Doping Program

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 22 AUGUST 2023: The Samoa Medical Anti-Doping Agency (SMADA) has formed a partnership with the Korea Anti-Doping Agency (KADA) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology/Doping Control Center Testing and Analysis Support Project (KIST/DCC).

Two of KADA’s representatives, Han Kijoo, International Relations Department Manager and Haewon Kim, Manager of Testing Department were in Samoa last week to conduct training with the Samoa Doping Control officials to enhance their understanding of the importance of fair play and the significance of being part of a clean and level playing field in sports.

“The SMADA Team Leader Dr. Natanya Potoi confirmed the ground breaking partnership means that KADA/DCC will assist Samoa’s campaign for clean and fair competition in sport through tests and analysis.”The KADA representatives were in Samoa in time for the 3rd International Va’a Federation (IVF) World Distance Championships that ended in Apia last Friday and observed the Samoa Anti -Doping Control team at work testing the athletes who competed in the event.

Korea is the home of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and the only accredited laboratory in the world for testing and the partnership with Samoa means every sample taken in Samoa will be tested and analyzed in Korea.

“With their cutting-edge technology and extensive experience, we can rest assured that accurate and reliable results will be obtained,” said Dr. Potoi.

Capacity building and collaboration are the two key focuses of the partnership, she said.

KADA representatives impress with Samoa anti-doping expertise
Kijoo clarified that the collaboration between Samoa and Korea is the first project on Testing & Analysing Support Project for small island nations and KADA provides human resources support in beefing up anti-doping quantity and quality programs through educational training.

Samoa Medical Anti-Doping Agency control officials during a training session with the KADA’s representatives.

SMADA is staffed by volunteers as there is no physical office or full time paid staff, but their skills in handling their responsibilities as anti-doping staff has amazed the Korean representatives.

“For Samoa, there were only short sessions as we were quite impressed with the knowledge and skills of the local team, and I think we need to conduct this project more and expand to other countries,” said Kijoo.

“We are fortunate that we have hosted so many regional and international sports competitions and they noted the experience of our staff compared to Nepal so it is a blessing for us,” said Dr. Potoi.

US$500 to test one athlete
Testing one athlete is very expensive and according to Dr. Potoi, it costs US$500 to test one athlete and all tests to be conducted in Korea.

There is no allocated funding to do testing and KADA has offered to pay for 40 athletes which Dr. Potoi said is a huge contribution from KADA for Samoa.

Kijoo said he hopes it won’t be a one-time offer but to take it further and they will report to the WADA Secretary General and advise for further collaboration.

KADA’s presence in Samoa is an indication of their commitment to the collaboration and to see that the project is implemented successfully.

Samoa only Pacific Island on WADA
Samoa is the only Pacific country who is a member of the 42 members of WADA. New Zealand and Australia nominated Samoa because she has fulfilled a certain percentage of compliance with the Code and also the number of elite athletes she provides.

“For the first time, a Pacific Island is on the highest governance body of WADA and Samoa is represented by the Minister for Education Sports & Culture (MESC) Seu’ula Ioane. This collaboration is important so we can have our voice heard at the highest level,” said Dr. Potoi

The Samoa Anti -Doping Control team at the 3rd International Va’a Federation (IVF) World Distance Championships that tested the athletes who competed in the event.

Need for a physical office & full time staff
Before Dr. Potoi moved back to Samoa and started working as a volunteer at SMADA, she was responsible for 15 countries but now, her work is easier as she focuses on Samoa only.

She is fortunate that when she came on board, she continued the work of the previous SMADA Chairs such as the late Tapasu Leung Wai, late Dr. Eti Enosa and Keri Punivalu.

One of the compliances of the Code is to have an office and full time staff to man it, and SMADA is pushing to have that dream realized.

The key challenge for SMADA is the lack of full time staff, something that KADA found surprising as despite having no office, SMADA was well organised and can still do the program by calling on volunteers to come in.

Some of the volunteers who worked with Dr. Potoi in 2006 and 2007 during the South Pacific Games are still passionate and committed to be part of the anti-doping agency.

The Anti-Doping Code 2021 ensures that all signatories comply but since then, the compliance level has increased hence the need for fulltime staff, but the most important factor is that athletes are well informed in an ongoing way.

“You don’t want those sporadic and spontaneous decisions but a consistent well planned and testing program to ensure that our people have a culture of clean sports as everyone from the top to the grassroots responsibility,” said Dr. Potoi.

There are rules and regulations in place endorsed by WADA and all procedures were well organised since 1999 when the Anti-Doping program was first established.

Samoa became a member by default and the Government became a signatory to the UNESCO Convention of Sports Anti-Doping in 1999 hence the first anti-doping program introduced in Samoa in the 2007 South Pacific Games.