A team of Council of Europe experts carried out an evaluation visit to Austria to assess the country’s anti-doping system. Held from 11 to 13 June2024, the visit aimed to evaluate the implementation of the Anti-Doping Convention.

The team met with high-level representatives of the Federal Ministries for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, of Interior (police), of Finance (customs), and of Justice.  Meetings were also held with the Austrian National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADA), the Anti-Doping Laboratory Seibersdorf, Sport Austria, the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, as well as national federations.

The team consisted of Farhad Abasov (independent expert, Azerbaijan), Eva Bunthoff (National Anti-Doping Agency of Germany), Marcello Presilla (Adviser to the Minister, Italy), Erika Petrutyte (National Anti-Doping Agency of Lithuania) and David Cowan (King’s College London, United Kingdom).

Evaluations are part of the Monitoring Group’s mandate: each year it analyses the anti-doping system of its State Parties through a questionnaire and regular evaluation visits.

The findings, recommendations and best practices identified during the visit will be summarised in an evaluation report, which will be adopted by the Monitoring Group, and subsequently transmitted to the Austrian authorities for the implementation of its recommendations.