A call was made for an ANOC representative on the ITA during the body's General Assembly ©Getty Images

An attempt by Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah to include an Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) representative added to the Board of the new Independent Testing Authority (ITA) has been rejected by other stakeholders.

Representatives from the IOC and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federation (ASOIF) have both advised against any changes.

insidethegames also understands that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is strongly opposed.

Sheikh Ahmad, the influential International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and ANOC President, interjected following a presentation by newly appointed ITA chair Valérie Fourneyron during the ongoing ANOC General Assembly here.

"My only recommendation is that [an] ANOC representative will be in this meeting," Sheikh Ahmad, also President of the Olympic Council of Asia, said.

"Although we have Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC) President who is also an IF (International Federation) President [World Archery head, Uğur Erdener] - we trust him and respect him.

"But we are speaking about future structure.

"For that it is our request that ANOC to have representative as main stake shareholder as quickly as possible."

As well as Fourneyron, the Board unveiled last month includes representatives from the IOC, International Federations, athletes and independent representatives.

Erdener is officially the IOC representative and Italy's ASOIF head Francesco Ricci Bitti will represent the International Federations.

Uğur Erdener, right, is already partly considered a representative for the National Olympic Committees on the ITA ©Getty Images
Uğur Erdener, right, is already partly considered a representative for the National Olympic Committees on the ITA ©Getty Images

Zimbabwe's swimmer and IOC Athletes' Commission member Kirsty Coventry will represent athletes.

China's Peijie Chen, President of the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education, will be the independent representtive.

"The support of the NOCs is important for the success of the ITA," an IOC spokesperson told insidethegames.

"Uğur Erdener will be on the ITA council in his capacity as a member of the IOC and President of an NOC."

Ricci Bitti added that this request could "only be said by someone who does not know what WADA is".

"WADA was created with two pillars: IFs and National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs)," he told insidethegames.

"Not NOCs.

"NOCs could be motivated and controlling NADOs, but they are totally out of the structure of anti-doping. 

"The stakeholders are NADO's and IFs."

ANOC secretary general Gunilla Lindberg also revealed that they had requested a position before the Board was first announced but been told that Erdener was the NOC representative.

Questions have already been raised about the true independence of the ITA given that three of the five Board members - Erdener, Coventry and Ricci Bitti - are either past or present members of the IOC.

Having an additional ANOC representative would only have provoked greater concerns from within the anti-doping community.

Valérie Fourneyron is the chair of the Independent Testing Authority ©Getty Images
Valérie Fourneyron is the chair of the Independent Testing Authority ©Getty Images

It is hoped that the ITA will ultimately replace International Federations and event organisers as the primary body responsible for drugs testing.

Fourneyron herself added that it is important to give the current Board time to settle but then did not rule out eventual changes.

"As you know, the composition of the Foundation Board of the ITA was a long process shared by the sport movement and public authorities," the former French Sports Minister told insidethegames.

"We have decided a small Board with a good balance between independent members and members representative from sport movement

"It’s necessary to give some time to settle, a couple of months for lapping and the governance can be reviewed in future.

"The support of the NOCs is important for the success of the ITA."