Boks, Proteas could lose SA flag at World Cups, says global doping authority

South African sport is in hot water with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and faces the prospect of losing the right to play under the national flag at global sporting events. 

Unless South Africa, through government and the South African Institute for Drug Free Sports (Saids), complies with updated Wada legislation by 14 October, then Wada says the country will no longer be able to fly its flag at showpiece events. 

This is particularly relevant to South Africa given the Springboks' current participation at the Rugby World Cup in France and the Proteas' efforts at the Cricket World Cup in India, which starts on Thursday. 

The Proteas play their first match at the tournament against Sri Lanka in Delhi this Sunday, while the Boks are poised for a quarter-final against either France or New Zealand next weekend in Paris.

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Bermuda is the other nation facing the same threats from Wada. 

In a statement released on the WADA website on 28 September, the organisation - the international gatekeepers of drug-free sport and tasked with testing at global events - referenced findings from an executive committee meeting held on 22 September that called out both South Africa and Bermuda and gave them a stern warning. 

"During its meeting, the ExCo asserted non-compliance of three Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) with the World Anti-Doping Code. The two National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) in question are Bermuda and South Africa," the Wada statement read.

"In the cases of the Bermuda and South Africa NADOs, the non-compliance is a result of legislation not in line with the [updated] 2021 Code.

"For all Signatories above, it should be noted that the decision (including