10 April is ‘ Play True Day ’, which we at WADA will be celebrating along with athletes, National and Regional Anti-Doping Organizations, Sporting Federations, Major Event Organizers and others around the world.
‘Play True Day’ is dedicated to clean sport and is intended to raise awareness among athletes, the sporting public and others about the global fight against doping. On this day, WADA will be asking athletes why they ‘Play True’?
The inspiration for this initiative stems from a WADA-hosted Education Conference in 2013, which was attended by 17 South American countries that were the driving force behind 10 April being declared ‘Play True Day’. While it started as a South American initiative, over the years, this grassroots movement has gained momentum with numerous European countries celebrating in 2016 and more joining the campaign from around the globe in the following year.
This is an example of what a grassroots movement can achieve. The organizers saw an opportunity to educate, to promote clean sport and to celebrate the many reasons to play true – and they seized it. Together, we can leverage this momentum to create a world where the clean athlete prevails, a world where athletes choose to stay clean out of self-respect, fairness to their fellow competitors, and for the pure joy that sport brings.
In a spirit of solidarity among the anti-doping community, we ask you to join WADA and others by celebrating the day on your digital and social media platforms, with the freedom to innovate and give it a twist unique to your specific sport or country. As a starting point, it would be great if you could also ask your athletes, players or administrators why they ‘Play True’ and then post the “I play true because…” videos with the hashtag, #PlayTrueDay.
Several Anti-Doping Organizations, National and International Sport Federations, and educational institutions have already organized events to run on #PlayTrueDay dedicated to clean sport and/or including relevant content in their existing events before, during and after 10 April. The organizers are promoting these events on their website ; and, encouraging others to leverage outreach programs, media interviews and social media activities as ways to celebrate the day.
If you have any queries or events that you would like to promote, please feel free to contact Nina Makuc from the Slovenia NADO, which is one of the driving forces behind the initiative. Nina’s email address is nina.makuc@sloado.si .
World Anti-Doping Agency