OTTAWA, Aug 8 (Bernama-Xinhua/Sputnik) -- The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has issued a stern rebuke to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) following revelations by Reuters on Wednesday, exposing a scheme that allowed US athletes who had committed doping violations to compete without sanctions for years, according to Xinhua.
WADA noted in a statement that this practice is a blatant violation of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA's own regulations.
It highlighted the severity of the allegations, which suggested that USADA permitted doped athletes to compete, including in Olympic qualifiers and international events, without publishing their anti-doping rule violations or imposing any sanctions. This, WADA asserted, undermined the integrity of sporting competition and is a clear breach of both international and USADA's own anti-doping rules.
WADA denied any involvement or approval of this practice.
"Contrary to the claims made by USADA, WADA did not sign off on this practice of permitting drug cheats to compete for years on the promise that they would try to obtain incriminating evidence against others," WADA said in the statement.
The World Anti-Doping Code does have provisions for reducing suspensions for athletes who provide substantial assistance, but WADA emphasised that this process does not permit athletes to continue competing while potentially still benefiting from performance-enhancing substances.
"When WADA eventually found out about this non-compliant practice in 2021, many years after it had started, it immediately instructed USADA to desist," the statement read.
WADA's investigation has so far identified at least three cases where athletes who had committed serious anti-doping rule violations were allowed to continue competing for years as undercover agents for USADA. In these instances, USADA failed to notify WADA, as required, and there were no provisions under the Code or USADA's rules that allowed such a practice.
WADA's statement also raised concerns about the broader implications of these actions, questioning the fairness and integrity of competitions where clean athletes unknowingly competed against those who had been allowed to cheat.
WADA criticised USADA's apparent double standard in enforcing anti-doping rules and called into question whether USADA's Board of Directors or the US Congress, which funds USADA, were aware of these practices.
"How must other athletes feel knowing they were competing in good faith against those who were known by USADA to have cheated?" WADA's statement asked.
"It is ironic and hypocritical that USADA cries foul when it suspects other Anti-Doping Organisations are not following the rules to the letter while it did not announce doping cases for years and allowed cheats to carry on competing, on the off chance they might help them catch other possible violators."
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Sputnik reported that The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) on Thursday called on the International Testing Agency to intensify checks on US athletes after sprinter Erriyon Knighton competed in the Paris Olympics after failing a doping test.
Knighton evaded disqualification following a positive trenbolone metabolite test after an independent expert ruled that the test's results could have been caused by eating contaminated meat. The decision was made in June by USADA. The Chinese watchdog has previously publicly doubted the USADA's investigation into the case.
"We strongly call on the International Testing Agency (ITA) to intensify testing on the US track and field athletes. We also strongly recommend that the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) strengthen anti-doping supervision of the US track and field, prevent the doping risks and strictly investigate relevant cases, in an endeavour to truly protect the legitimate rights and interests of the clean athletes around the world, and to rebuild the trust of global athletes in fair play," CHINADA said in a statement.
“Given the deep-rooted stains in the US athletics and USADA’s repeated disregard for procedures and standards, there is reason to suspect that there is a systemic doping problem in track and field in the US and the positive cases therein deserve continuous investigation and attention," the statement read.
-- BERNAMA-AGENCIES
