From Inside the Games
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been forced to scrap original plans for a new version of its ADAMS data management system at considerable expense.
The agency told insidethegames that the provider chosen to redevelop the tool “fell short of our objectives and could not produce the desired result”.
The cost of development with this provider was consequently written off, contributing to the near $730,000 (£565,000/€612,500) deficit disclosed in WADA’s newly-published 2016 financial statements.
“Since then,” WADA explained, “the project has been repositioned, new leadership put in place and a new partner/provider was brought on board”.
ADAMS, which first went online in 2005, is a key data repository for athlete whereabouts information, laboratory results, the athlete biological passport, therapeutic use exemptions and information on anti-doping rule violations.
As such, it is an essential tool in the efficient functioning of the ever more complex global anti-doping machinery and has become a constant in the day-to-day lives of thousands of athletes across virtually all sports.
The new version was originally projected for release late last year, in the wake of the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.
