WAZ Intergrity In Sport (IIS)
What is "IIS"?
IIS is the section of WAZ dedicated to the protection of the integrity of the sport of wrestling in Zambia.
The goal is to keep Zambian wrestling safe and fair for all participants, staff and spectators regardless of age, race, religion, gender, political view or ability.
It encompasses areas including but not limited to;
Anti-doping.
Match fixing.
Discrimination.
Corruption.
Abuse/Bullying/Harassement.
Sadly many sports around the world see repeated issues with these matters. IIS aims to limit if not prevent these situations from happening to the sport of wrestling and our members.
What is "doping"?
Doping is a term used to refer to the use of a prohibited substance or method to improve perfromance.
Perhaps the best example of what is and is not doping can be explained below;
John and Frank are both sprinters trying for a spot on their national team. John chooses to spend 3 months training hard in a special high altitude camp to improve the oxygen utilisation within his body. Frank learned that there is a substance EPO which can have the same effect without having to train as hard or go to a specialist facility.
Frank is guilty of doping. John is not. Frank wanted the reward without any extra effort. This is the essence of doping, that it violates the "Spirit of sport", that being that the best on the day wins fairly.
WADA and UWW.
As a National Federation affiliated with United World Wrestling (UWW) and National Oympic Committee of Zambia (NOCZ) the Wrestling Association of Zambia is subject to the World Anti-doping Authority (WADA) rules and complies with the WADA Code.
This means wrestlers can and will be selected for drug testing and all athletes and support staff are subject to the requiremets of the WADA Code.
How do I know what I can take?
This is a fair question and as an athlete you need to understand that;
1) You and only you are responsible and accountable for what goes into your body, regardless of your age. So you need to be onto this stuff.
2) As far as WADA is concerned you are "gulity until proven innocent". So a positive result of any form will see you suspended/banned.
However it is not all doom and gloom. The link below is for "Globaldro" a site which allows athletes to check medications before they take them, and ALWAYS check!
The other is for "Informed sport" this company does third party testing for supplements. Yes, you can fail a test because of something you bought at a supermarket, tribal food or herbal remedy.
Matchfixing, abuse and other issues.
As a new National federation there are not a lot of these issues, we want to keep it that way. WAZ aim for wrestling in Zambia to be one of the best experiences for anyone, from any country, ever!
To make that reality we need to create a culture that puts safe, fun, inclusive, fair sport above all else.
This means not putting up with racist conduct against anyone, not gambling on our sport, always playing by the rules and respecting everyone involved (even the people we don't like). Most importantly it means speaking up when something is "off".
2023 Annual WADA Update
This years annual update was delivered by Coach Gregory from BASED Wrestling in Australia.
This update also covered a lot of basic information on adnit-doping and integrity because this was a first time for most of the coaches and officials in WAZ.