The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Agence mondiale antidopage, is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland to coordinate the fight against drugs in sport. Its current chairman is Richard Pound, a former IOC vice-president and outspoken opponent of drugs in sport. In 2001, WADA voted to move its headquarters to Montreal, Canada.
Initially funded by the International Olympic Committee, WADA now receives only half of its budgetary requirements from them, with the other half coming from various governments throughout the world. The agency works to help individual sporting federations implement testing procedures in the fields of education and research. It also produces a list of prohibited substances that athletes are not allowed to take.
