Montreal, April 14, 2016 -Three days ago WADA issued a Notice to Stakeholders regarding Meldonium and providing clarification regarding its inclusion on the Prohibited List, existing excretion studies and those underway, as well as the results management and adjudication process.

Stakeholders and world media reacted quickly, suggesting a possible amnesty for athletes found positive to the Meldonium before March 2016, on the grounds that no clear data on excretion were available. Among other things, the WADA Notice stated that: “In the case of Meldonium, there is currently a lack of clear scientific information on excretion times. For this reason, a hearing panel might justifiably find (unless there is specific evidence to the contrary) that an athlete who has established on the balance of probabilities that he or she ingested Meldonium before 1 January 2016 could not reasonably have known or suspected that the Meldonium would still be present in his or her body on or after 1 January 2016. In these circumstances, WADA considers that there may be grounds for no fault or negligence on the part of the athlete.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency then issued a Statement on the Notice regarding Meldonium to clarify its position to stakeholders.

“There is no doubt as to the status of Meldonium as a prohibited substance,” said WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie. “There is equally no doubt that the principle of strict liability under the Code, as well as, the well established process for results management and adjudication prevail,” he continued.

“Since Meldonium was prohibited on 1 January of this year, there have been 172 positive samples for the substance, for athletes across numerous countries and sports,” Reedie said. “Concurrently, there has been a call by stakeholders for further clarification and guidance,” he continued. “WADA recognizes this need – that Meldonium is a particular substance, which has created an unprecedented situation and therefore warranted additional guidance for the anti-doping community.”

The full WADA Notice and Statement available on www.wada-ama.org