The World Anti-Doping Agency on Thursday appointed a special prosecutor to examine how 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned drugs were able to avoid public scrutiny and compete in the 2021 Olympics, where they won gold medals and set records.
The decision to appoint Switzerland’s Eric Cotier as special prosecutor comes amid outcry from senior government officials, anti-doping experts and authorities, and athletes over the way positive results have been handled by Chinese anti-doping officials and WADA made on the occasion.
WADA said it had to take the move in response to “damaging and unfounded accusations” made against it since Saturday’s New York Times report. disclose How the Chinese anti-doping agency Chinaada and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) refused to sanction or name 23 swimmers.
“WADA’s integrity and reputation are under attack,” WADA president Witold Banka said in a statement. “Over the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of favoring China for not appealing the China Anti-Doping Agency case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We continue to deny these false accusations and we are pleased to be able to bring these matters to the To an experienced and respected independent prosecutor.”
WADA said on Thursday that as part of the review, Mr Cotier – who served as attorney general of a Swiss canton for 17 years before stepping down in 2022 – would be granted “full and unrestricted access” Access to all WADA archives and documents”. related to this matter. “
One of the questions WADA asked Mr Cotier to answer was whether China Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to clear athletes for doping and WADA’s decision not to intervene were “reasonable”. WADA also asked prosecutors to investigate whether China received preferential treatment from WADA.
The announcement came three days after Mr Banka and other senior WADA officials Defend the organization’s approach China case.
“If we had to do it again now, we would do the same thing,” Banka declared on Monday.
The same day, the Biden administration’s top anti-drug official and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s executive committee called for the creation of an independent investigator and said he planned to raise it at a meeting of sports ministers and anti-doping officials in Washington on Thursday and Friday. question.
“The United States remains committed to ensuring a level playing field and fair international sports competition opportunities for every American and global athlete,” said the official, Rahul Gupta, director of the General Office of the National Sports Administration. Drug Control Policy, said Monday. “A rigorous, independent investigation must be conducted to investigate any potential incidents of misconduct.”
Minutes after WADA announced the appointment of a special prosecutor, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis T. Tygart criticized the agency’s motives in handling the China case. Tygart has been one of the biggest critics of the regulator’s handling of the China case.
“Given the ongoing threats and attacks, it is difficult to view this as a whitewash,” Tygart said in a statement to The Times. “Obviously pre-cooked. WADA’s statement illustrates the problems with the current system. WADA does not follow its own rules and then it can handpick a lawyer from its own backyard and set The scope of the carefully selected attorney’s review.”
Concerns about the positive test results have only grown since details of the case were released on Saturday. Anti-doping authorities in Britain and Australia have called for an independent review, echoing requests from national swimming governing bodies, athletes and government officials around the world.
“British Swimming believes that every athlete has the right to compete on a level playing field, which means a commitment to clean sport,” British Swimming’s governing body said in a statement. “To deliver on this commitment requires A robust, transparent and consistently applied testing process.”
WADA attempted to mitigate some of the fallout from the China leaks on Monday by holding a press conference. However, the effort, which lasted for nearly two hours, failed to quell people’s anger.
WADA acknowledged that its own procedures were not followed in the case and raised additional questions about whether Chinese athletes were treated differently to athletes from other countries facing similar charges. USADA even issued a detailed rebuttal of the claims made in the press conference, making it clear that the case, and WADA’s handling of it, will not go away quietly.
