Key Takeaways
- The White House has decided to withhold funding to WADA due to concerns over athlete rights and fair competition.
- USADA supports the decision, citing the need for transparency and trust among athletes.
- The non-payment of dues will not affect US athletes’ participation in domestic or global competitions.
Washington: The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has backed the White House’s decision to withhold a $3.6 million payment to the World Anti-Doping Agency for 2024, USADA CEO Travis Tygart has said.
On Wednesday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced that it has withheld its WADA contribution amid the scandal surrounding doping probes of Chinese athletes.
“USADA fully supports this decision by the White House ONDCP as the only right choice to protect athletes’ rights, accountability, and fair competition… Given the U.S. is hosting many international competitions over the next 10 years, such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, now is the time to get WADA right to ensure these competitions on U.S. soil are clean, safe, and a pageantry of fair competition in which we can all have faith and confidence,” USADA quoted Tygart as saying.
Withholding the contribution will not affect US athletes’ ability to participate in domestic or global competitions, he added.
“The WADA Code is clear on the impact of non-payment of dues: it doesn’t affect athletes. USADA will continue to implement the WADA Code program, ensuring U.S. athletes’ rights are protected.”
In November, ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta did not approve paying Washington’s share to WADA. He said then that the US must use all tools at its disposal to achieve transparency from WADA and get back the trust of athletes, especially US athletes, who now believe that they compete at a disadvantage against Chinese opponents.
In November, WADA filed a lawsuit against USADA for defamation in the case of Chinese swimmers. Earlier, German broadcaster ARD reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine in January 2021. Then, the Chinese athletes were allowed to participate in the Tokyo Olympics. WADA announced in April that it had not punished the Chinese athletes, as it could not refute the CHINADA verdict on the unintentional entry of the banned substance into the athletes’ bodies. Later, USADA CEO Travis Tygart accused WADA and CHINADA of covering up information. Eleven swimmers implicated in the doping scandal were named to China’s Paris Olympic team.
