A team of Council of Europe experts carried out an evaluation visit to Belgium to assess the country’s anti-doping programme, practices and measures. Held from 24 to 26 January 2023, the visit aimed to evaluate the implementation of the Anti-Doping Convention.

The team met with high-level representatives of the stakeholders actively involved in the fight against doping in Belgium, including the Ministers of Sport of  the French, Flemish and German-speaking Communities, the four Anti-Doping Organisations (NADO Flanders, ONAD Communauté française, ONADO Brussels, and NADO Ostbelgien), the public health authorities, the Anti-Doping Laboratory (Docolab), the Belgian police and customs authorities, the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, the national federations and athletes.

The team was composed of Alexandre Husting (Luxembourgish Sport Ministry, Head of the Evaluation Team), Amandine Carton (French Sport Ministry, Rapporteure), Markus Feller (Swiss Sport Ministry) and Sylvia Mindova (Bulgarian NADO).

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 targeted evaluation visits.

The findings, recommendations and good practices identified during the visit will be summarised in an evaluation report, which will be proposed for adoption by the Monitoring Group, and subsequently transmitted to the Belgian authorities for the implementation of its tailored recommendations.