Olympics-United States risks sports and anti-doping isolation with unilateral action

PARIS - The United States could find itself isolated from world sport with significant consequences for American athletes if it risks the harmonisation of the global anti-doping rules, said World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Witold Banka on Wednesday.

Banka, addressing the session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Paris, said a recent case of 23 Chinese swimmers that has led to a U.S. department of justice investigation had shown that the U.S. anti-doping agency (USADA) was acting with no regard for global anti-doping rules.

"If the United States, encouraged by USADA continues to threaten that harmonisation (of global anti-doping) it will isolate itself from the global sporting community and carry significant consequences for American sport," Banka said.

"Despite WADA's public explanations how it handled the case... we have information that the US Department of Justice opened an investigation under the controversial Rodchenkov anti-doping act."

The 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for banned substances before the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, during a national swim meet in China with no Americans in the competition.

They were later cleared by a Chinese investigation, which said they were inadvertently exposed to the drug through contamination.

WADA did not find any wrongdoing in its own investigation of the cases but it has since triggered a separate U.S. investigation and sharp criticism of WADA's handling from USADA.

An independent investigation earlier this month ruled WADA did not mishandle or show favouritism while a World Aquatics audit concluded there was no mismanagement or cover-up by the governing body.

"It is all the more disappointing to see the same rhetoric from USADA, doubling down on defamatory allegations against WADA and World Aquatics," Banka said.

"This has been extremely damaging to our reputation and the confidence and trust athletes and other stakeholders have in the global anti-doping system."

U.S. JURISDICTION

The involvement of U.S. authorities and the use of the Rodchenkov Act in the case also angered the IOC which said WADA's authority could not be unilaterally challenged.

The Rodchenkov Act legislation passed in 2020 extends U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction to any international sporting competitions that involve American athletes or have financial connections to the United States.

"This law claims U.S. jurisdiction in doping matters anywhere in the world," Banka said.

"If the U.S. authorities assert jurisdiction over cases that have nothing to do with them then it risks putting the United States outside the global anti-doping system."

"The need for anti-doping rules to be consistent and not politically applied is why WADA was funded in the first place," he added.

USADA said it respected the world anti-doping code but was "shocked" by WADA's decision not to apply the rules in the case of the swimmers and by the IOC not demanding answers.

"It is shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts," USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement.

"It seems more apparent than ever that WADA violated the rules and needs accountability and reform to truly be the global watchdog that clean athletes need.

"The IOC should be leading the charge to protect clean sport, and it will be devastating to clean athletes around the globe to see a blind eye turned toward these positive tests," Tygart said.