Azerbaijan National Anti-Doping Agency (AMADA) has conducted a roundtable discussion on "Strategic Partnership: Cooperation for the Development of Global Anti-Doping Initiatives".

The event was attended by state officials, law enforcement representatives, leaders of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Testing Agency, anti-doping organizations from various countries, and international experts.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Farid Gaibov, highly appreciated the significance of the event and emphasized that efforts in the fight against doping are very important.

"As you know, I am the vice president of the Bureau of the 9th Conference of Parties of the International Convention against Doping in Sport (COP-9). Just a few days ago, I had another meeting in Estonia. At the meeting, we discussed how countries can support anti-doping policies, as well as the importance of some states changing their laws. There is a need for broad discussions in the field of the fight against doping. Azerbaijan has always supported international anti-doping policies and expresses solidarity with the World Anti-Doping Agency. I believe that interesting proposals and ideas will emerge at the roundtable, and cooperation in this direction will be discussed," he said.

AMADA Executive Director, Tahmina Taghizade stressed the importance of collaboration in developing the anti-doping system and noted that there are more quality and interesting initiatives in this area.

She noted that the roundtable covers these initiatives, and facilitates an exchange of ideas. Considering that education is a crucial factor in the fight against doping, one of the main topics of the event was also the establishment of the international educational centre.

During the roundtable, discussions also covered anti-doping investigations, enhanced testing, the development of education and awareness to achieve clean sport, as well as the development of partnerships and cooperation for a future free from doping dependency.

The Azerbaijan National Anti-Doping Agency (AMADA) was established on December 23, 2016 as a national anti-doping organisation with the mission of fighting doping in sports.

The legal background covering the agency's mission is the Law "On the fight against the use of doping substances and methods in sport," signed and, respectively, implemented by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the last quarter of 2016.