Phinado head assures Philippine bets clean

The Philippines is under the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) microscope because of its success in the Tokyo Olympics three months ago, but the head of the Philippine National Anti-Doping Organization (Phinado) assured that the country is strictly following guidelines and requirements set by the world body on the participation of Filipino athletes in big international meets.

Team Philippines captured its first-ever gold medal in the Olympics courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, and claimed two silver medals through boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio.

A third boxer, Eumir Marcial, also added a bronze medal to the most successful Philippine campaign in the global quadrennial Games.

Dr. Alejandro Pineda bared that the Wada recently took notice of the Philippines’ rise in international sports, this, also following its overall title in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

But Pineda said that there basically is nothing to worry about, and that the Philippines will not be like Thailand and Indonesia, its Southeast Asian neighbors who have been sanctioned by the Wada for violations and are barred from hosting regional events.

Pineda said that all the necessary requirements will be met when the world anti-doping body conducts an audit anytime soon.

Part of the sanctions on Thailand and Indonesia is that their flags cannot be hoisted during regional meets, like what Russia was made to do during the last Olympics.

There are also reports that said that the postponement of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, which was supposed to be held in Thailand later this year, was because of the Wada sanction.