Muscat, Oct 23 (ONA) --- The 16th meeting of the Board of

Directors of GCC and Yemen Regional Anti-Doping Organization began

today under the patronage of Sayyid Khalid bin Hamad Al Busaidi,

Chairman of the Omani Olympic Committee.

    The 2-day meeting is being hosted by the Omani Olympic

Committee represented by the Omani anti-doping committee in

cooperation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

        The meeting is chaired by Dr. Sultan bin Yarub Al Busaidi,

Chairman of the GCC and Yemen Regional Anti-Doping Organization,

Chairman of the Omani Anti-Doping Committee.

      During the meeting, the minutes of the last meeting will be

endorsed and a new chairman will be elected for the next two years.

The meeting will also be updated on the activities of the GCC and

Yemen Regional Anti-Doping Organization, as well as the tasks of the

national anti-doping committees, in addition to discussing the

operational strategy for 2020 in the GCC countries and Yemen,

discussing the future of the anti-doping organization program in the

region, reviewing the draft anti-doping law to be adopted in 2021 and

discussing its compatibility with the national anti-doping committees.

    The meeting also includes open discussion sessions between WADA

and representatives of the National Anti-Doping Committees in the

GCC and Yemen in order to know the current status of these

committees and their plans for development, as stated in the

questionnaire adopted by the Agency, which obliges all anti-doping

committees around the world to fill in order to continuously follow up

their programs, find out their shortcomings and propose the most

appropriate solutions to address them.

--Ends/MN/AH