WADA Points to Contamination Case in U.S. as Precedent for Clearing Chinese Swimmers in 2021

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) took nearly two hours on Monday to address allegations it mishandled a Chinese doping controversy in 2021, with general counsel Ross Wenzel pointing to a similar case on American soil back in 2014 as precedent.

WADA officials claimed they had no evidence to disprove Chinese authorities’ report that 23 elite swimmers’ positive tests for trimetazidine (TMZ) were caused by contamination in their hotel kitchen about seven months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They cited strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in China as the reason why an on-the-ground investigation was impossible at the time. Wenzel estimated WADA’s chances of winning an appeal in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) were “close to zero.”

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart is among those criticizing WADA for keeping the case hidden leading up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, going so far as to call it “a potential cover-up.” Wenzel did not provide an update on whether WADA would seek legal action against Tygart and USADA for their statements, but he did seem to suggest that their response is hypocritical based on the past.

Wenzel noted “a case involving more than 10 athletes in the U.S. in 2014, but there are many other examples where there has been group contamination related to food or environment, where these cases have been closed without public disclosure because it has been accepted that these athletes were at no fault… This is not without precedent.”

On Tuesday morning, Tygart claimed the 2014 case in question did not involve American athletes.

“WADA’s statements at the press conference about 10 cases on U.S. soil for which there was no violation and no public disclosure, is concerning,” Tygart said. “These 10 cases were not USADA’s, and we had no involvement with them, if they in fact happened in the U.S. This is a disturbing claim, as these cases must be International Federation cases with which USADA has no involvement. But it suggests WADA’s decision to allow China to sweep the 23 cases under the rug without consequence is apparently just the tip of the iceberg. So, how many more cases have been treated the same in violation of the rules?”

Wenzel added that USADA appears to have flipped its stance on disclosing information about doping investigations where no fault was found.

“USADA, for instance, is one of the organizations that has been quite vocal that cases of no fault should not be subject to public disclosure,” Wenzel said. “It made that comment recently in connection with a track and field athlete. It has made that comment in the past as well in press releases and to WADA.”

WADA president Witold Banka doubled down that “WADA followed the whole due process and diligently investigated every line of inquiry on this matter. If we had to do it over again now, we would do exactly the same thing.”

“It is worth pointing out that at the same time our experts were reviewing this case in 2021,” Banka added, “we were also vigorously pursuing justice in the case of another swimmer from China, Sun Yang.”

China contributed nearly $2 million above its yearly requirements to WADA programs in the two years before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but WADA director general Olivier Niggli denied that had any influence on their handling of the case in quetion.

“All this was done in total transparency,”  Niggli said. “And frankly, the (question) has absolutely nothing to do with what we are discussing today. So, the optics is a question (I appreciate), but I have absolutely no problem with the relationship we have with China.”

Related: 

• Olympic Swimmers React to Chinese Doping Scandal: ‘Ban Them All And Never Compete Again’
• China Responds to Allegations of Widespread 2021 Doping: ‘Fake News’

USADA hit back on Tuesday morning, calling for an independent investigation due to all the questions left unanswered by WADA’s press conference. USADA also advocated for an “overhaul” of WADA to ensure the same problem doesn’t repeat itself in the future.

“Unfortunately, none of the outstanding questions about the failure of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency or the World Anti-Doping Agency to uniformly enforce the anti-doping rules were satisfactorily answered for clean athletes and the public in WADA’s press conference yesterday,” USADA said in a statement.

“The selective and self-serving application of the rules we heard about yesterday destroys public trust in the authenticity and value of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement. Learning that different rules can be applied to different countries sours the commitment of those who are vital to its ongoing viability, including the world’s best athletes, fans, sponsors, and the next generation of athletes.

“As a result of the global anti-doping system’s obvious failure, we urgently call on governments and sport leaders to step up and immediately undertake action to ensure that real independence, oversight, and accountability are created in the global anti-doping system so that the world can have trust and confidence in the system and those who lead it.

“Given we are on the eve of the 2024 Summer Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, athletes and the public desperately need and deserve confidence in the global anti-doping system headed into these Games. An immediate first step to repairing the damage of this cover-up is for governments to appoint an Independent Prosecutor to review the entire case file of the 23 positive tests and ensure that justice is delivered in these cases.

“The statute of limitations has not run out in these cases and the pathway for application of the rules and due process may still exist. The effort to achieve whatever justice possible at this time must happen before the 2024 Paris Games, as it is unfair for all athletes competing in these Games to possibly compete against those who tested positive and whose results were kept secret until now.

“WADA’s willingness to blindfold and handcuff itself as we learned yesterday, and to maintain that it would do the same thing all over again, is yet another stab in the back to clean athletes. How can a global regulator possibly be satisfied when it allows 23 positive tests to be swept under the carpet, and no athlete or organization is held accountable?

“Given this, we also call on the Governments at the WADA Executive and Foundation Board to launch a full review of how it came to be that 23 Chinese positive tests were covered up, and WADA allowed it to happen without any consequence, contrary to its own rules. All athletes, sponsors, and fans of the Olympic and Paralympic Movement deserve a real global guard dog that has the teeth and the determination to apply the rules uniformly and fairly.

“Additionally, following this review, we call on governments and the sport movement to overhaul WADA to ensure a cover-up of positive samples on the eve of the Olympic Games cannot occur ever again, and to once and for all remove the fox from guarding the hen house by making WADA truly independent.

“Thousands of athletes around the world have dedicated themselves to playing by WADA’s rules every day, and their careers depend on their strict compliance with the rules. The organizations trusted to protect their rights should be held to the same level of accountability.”

Check out WADA’s full press conference below: