Final Report Finds China Did Not Apply All Rules, Reaffirms WADA Was Not Biased Toward China

Eric Cottier, the independent prosecutor investigating the handling of the case of 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in 2021 presented his final report to the World Anti Doping (WADA)’s Executive Committee on September 12. The final reasoned report upheld the findings from the interim report, released July 9, that WADA showed no bias toward China in its handling of the case.

“The information in the file shows that WADA has done its work autonomously, independently and professionally, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. WADA has applied the rules to which its activity is subject,” Cottier said in his opening statement.

Cottier found that “clarification of certain anti-doping rules should be considered as part of the World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards Update Process” and “formalization of certain administrative processes should be considered within WADA.” In their press release on the report, WADA noted that the first of these findings is already in process.

Cottier also noted in his opening remarks that “as far as the Chinese agency is concerned, it is clear that certain rules of the World Anti-Doping Code have not been applied. This is regrettable, but in the end, it does not change the outcome of the cases and the acceptance of the contamination process.”

In WADA’s press release, its president Witold Banka “welcomed” the suggestion to review the rules on group contamination, stating this case highlighted the difficulty of dealing with group contaminations and the challenge for anti-doping organizations to “distinguish between cases of genuine contamination and cases of well-resourced cheats who fabricate a contamination defense.”

In an annex published alongside WADA’s press release on the interim report in July, Cottier said that WADA chief scientist Olivier Rabin was unable to exclude the contamination scenario, leaving him “no other solutions than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.”

Cottier’s final report comes in the middle of an ongoing battle between WADA and the USADA. Two days before Cottier’s presentation to the executive committee, the New York Times reported WADA sought to bar Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and a White House representative, from these board meetings.

It was just the latest installment in the feud, which began in April when the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD broke the story about the 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive. The U.S. Congress launched a federal investigation into the matter and last month, WADA opened a compliance review of the USADA with the Independent Compliance Review Committee due to the agency’s statements and the controversial 2019 Rodchenkov Act, which extends the United States’ jurisdiction to any international sporting event the U.S. has financial connections to or where the American athletes participated, allowing the country to bring criminal charges against those found to have violated anti-doping law at any such competition.

As any country participating in or hosting an international competition must comply with the anti-doping code, this review could potentially jeopardize the United States hosting the 2028 and 2034 Olympics.

Both CHINADA and USADA released statements regarding the release of Mr. Cottier’s final report, CHINADA said that “all internal and external elements prove that the decision by WADA not to challenge on appeal the contamination scenario put forward by CHINADA is reasonable, both in terms of facts and the applicable rules.”

The statement continues, “Motivated by political bias and anti-China prejudice, USADA has fabricated false accusations to blur the lines between right and wrong, misleading the international community and the public about the nature of the [TMZ] contamination incident.”

USADA interpreted the report’s findings differently. CEO Travis Tygart said the “full report released today by WADA’s investigator only validates our concerns and even raises new questions that must be answered.” Tygart declared that the way to answer these questions was with “an independent investigation where the scope and the investigator are identified by neutral third parties and a proper results management process.”

Read More:

• Eric Cottier’s Final Report (also available in French through WADA)