CAF’s Anti-Doping Unit recently concluded a highly successful two-day workshop held in partnership with the Liberian Football Association at the FA’s headquarters in Monrovia, Liberia.

The workshop held on 18 and 19 July 2023 was spearheaded by CAF’s Antidoping Panel Member, Dr Zakia Bartegi alongside CAF Antidoping Senior Manager, Sherif Abou El Enein.

It saw a total of 100 participants spread between players, coaches, club medical staff and administrators being taken through the latest developments and regulations of CAF’s Anti-Doping unit.

CAF has been on an extensive drive across the continent to help all its Member Associations get upskilled across their various departments with the necessary tools, information, and technological support to take the African game to even greater heights.

Sharing her thoughts on the successful rollout of the two-day gathering, Dr Bartegi said such workshops tend to be overlooked but play a very critical role in football, both at a local and a global stage.

“We first want to applaud the Liberian FA for taking the initiative to reach out to CAF and request guidance on hosting such a critical workshop. Anti-Doping plays a very important role in governing football. As CAF, we want to ensure that all our Member Associations remain up to speed with the latest developments in relation to Anti-Doping,” said Dr Bartegi.

“Such workshops tend to be overlooked and sometimes result in unfortunate endings due to lack of knowledge. It is therefore imperative that CAF, in close partnership with all our Member Associations, play a leading role in educating all stakeholders of the game about Anti-Doping and ensure that we remain up to date with all its latest developments,” concluded Dr Bartegi

In addition to the two-day workshop, CAF oversaw a strategic meeting with LFA officials as well as key members of Liberia’s Ministry of Sports to map out plans of how best to go about setting up the nation’s first-ever Anti-Doping Unit and pairing it with an Anti-Doping Programme.

This aligns with the World Anti-Doping Agency Procedures and FIFA Anti-Doping Regulations.

CAF will make further announcements on its next Anti-Doping workshops in due course.