Financial dispute between the United States and the World Anti-Doping Agency ends

The fallout from the revelation that the World Anti-Doping Agency failed to sanction a large number of Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug emerged Wednesday after the Biden administration said it had withheld significant funding for the the agency and that the agency had dismissed the representative of the American government. of its board of directors.

The United States suspended funding to the agency, known as WADA, after losing confidence in its ability to guard against the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs at events like the Olympics, it said. the White House.

The Biden administration's decision was a blow to WADA, which has faced scrutiny for deciding not to punish or more aggressively investigate positive tests for banned substances performed by elite Chinese swimmers in recent years.

On Wednesday, the anti-doping agency responded by removing the United States, which was the agency's main funder, from its board of directors.

WADA said in a statement that, under its rules, representatives from a country that has not paid its dues are not eligible to serve on the foundation board or executive committee.

The loss of the seat on the board of directors is automatic, the agency added.

The White House chose to withhold funding it had committed to providing to the AMA in 2024, in consultation with Congress.

WADA must take concrete steps to restore confidence in the global anti-doping system and give athletes the confidence they deserve, the White House said in a statement released Tuesday evening. When American taxpayer dollars are allocated, we must ensure full accountability, and it is our responsibility to ensure that these funds are used appropriately.

The United States was to contribute $3.6 million for 2024, a tiny sum of the federal budget but a significant portion of WADA's funding. The U.S. contribution is matched by the International Olympic Committee and would ultimately represent 14% of the organization's budget, or about $52 million for 2024. It plans to receive $57.5 million this year.

The question of whether the United States will provide funding for this year will fall to the second Trump administration, which took a contradictory approach to the AMA during President Donald J. Trump's first term.

The Biden administration's action, and WADA's response, will likely increase tensions between the United States on the one hand and WADA and the IOC on the other. WADA and the IOC have defended the anti-doping agencies' handling of suspicions about Chinese doping and have gone to great lengths to thwart U.S. attempts to hold WADA accountable for what U.S. officials view as its failures.

The United States is expected to host two Olympic Games in the next decade. White House officials fear that the 2034 Winter Olympics, awarded to Salt Lake City in July, could be scrapped as punishment for the United States both for its refusal to pay and for the continued efforts of the Justice Department and Congress to investigate how positive tests were handled.

U.S. policy toward WADA has been led by Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Biden administration's drug czar, who oversees the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Dr. Gupta, who sits on the WADA executive committee, has been warning senior agency officials for weeks that he would withhold U.S. funding if WADA refused to agree to a series of measures that he said would restore confidence in the agency's ability to control sports.

Dr. Gupta's main demand was that WADA submit to an external audit of its operations. He also said WADA should drop the defamation lawsuit it filed against U.S. anti-doping authorities, who accused WADA of covering up the positive tests. And he wanted proof that an ethics complaint filed against him, which seemed intended to get him kicked off the WADA executive committee, had been dropped.

But despite extensive exchanges between the White House and WADA, including face-to-face meetings in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, last month, the agency failed to gain access to requests from Dr. Gupta. It also signaled that if the United States did not pay, there would be consequences and WADA would find alternative funding.

In Riyadh, an Olympic official told a White House official that non-payment of U.S. dues could affect the country's ability to host or participate in the Olympics, according to two people familiar with the exchange who spoke under covered with anonymity because they were not. authorized to speak publicly.

The White House, in response, studied the consequences the country could face for non-payment and concluded that it could mean losing the hosting of the 2034 Winter Olympics. But the White House decided that the Questions about WADA's credibility were so great that it had to move forward with withholding the money, according to two people briefed on the matter.

U.S. anti-doping authorities, responsible for monitoring American athletes to ensure they are not doping, welcomed the White House's decision to withhold funding but said it would have no impact on American athletes , since they will always be subject to the WADA anti-doping code.

Unfortunately, WADA's current leadership has left the United States with no other option after failing to meet several very reasonable demands, such as an independent audit of WADA's operations, to achieve transparency and accountability necessary to ensure that WADA is fit for purpose in protecting athletes. said Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Mr. Tygart noted that the United States has contributed more money to WADA since its founding in 2000 than any other country.

One of WADA's main missions is to step in and hold athletes accountable when their own countries fail to do so. In April, the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported that WADA had secretly cleared 23 elite Chinese swimmers in 2021 of doping after they all tested positive at similarly low levels of doping. a drug that helps athletes train harder and recover quickly.

WADA had accepted a Chinese explanation that the swimmers had likely unintentionally ingested the drug, a prescription heart medication, through food they ate at a hotel where they were staying for a competition, a scenario that some independent experts considered it implausible.

Since testing positive, swimmers have won numerous medals at the 2021 and 2024 Summer Olympics, including beating the Americans for gold. One of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive won more medals at the Paris 2024 Games than any other athlete who competed there.

The disclosure in April was followed by others by the Times that raised questions about WADA's performance and whether it had looked the other way when confronted with other positive tests, which led to calls for a closer look at the functioning of the international anti-doping agency.

WADA and the IOC have criticized a 2019 law that allows U.S. authorities to pursue anti-doping cases around the world.

This type of extraterritorial power, they argue, could lead to the collapse of the global anti-doping system and lead other countries to create similar laws. The IOC recently approved WADA leaders Witold Banka, the agency's president, from Poland, and his deputy Yang Yang, from China, for new terms.

The White House's stance contrasts with how U.S. and Utah Olympic officials have behaved in response to the International Olympic Committee and WADA.

In July, the IOC demanded that those responsible for Salt Lake City's bid for the 2034 Games commit to protecting WADA's sovereignty. Faced with these demands, officials Gene Sykes and Fraser Bullock capitulated, agreeing to delay U.S. investigations into the positive tests in exchange for the offer.

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