Reuters removes doping stories after giving Wada employee Masters pass

Revelations about undercover runners recruited to expose a doping conspiracy in athletics took a new twist on Thursday, when Reuters news agency retracted its own articles on the matter after admitting that one of its journalists had arranged for a high-level World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada ) official to attend the Masters golf tournament in Augusta as an accredited journalist.

An investigation for Observer Sport in July revealed how the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) recruited a Kenyan runner to work as an undercover agent for several years, informing his training group and leading to US federal agents seizing large quantities of drugs. performance enhancing drugs. Dozens of Kenyan athletes were sanctioned for doping violations during the period in question.

A Reuters investigation in August was critical of the practice, with Wada quoted as saying: “This Usada plan threatened the integrity of sports competition… Usada was clearly in violation of the rules. Contrary to Usada’s claims, Wada has not signed off on this practice, where drug traffickers would compete for years on the promise of obtaining incriminating evidence against others.”

USADA has always said that Wada had signed off on the operation, which was provided for under Wada rules, and that the athlete in question was given a reduced sanction once the operation was completed.

The Times announced this on Thursday that a Reuters journalist who worked on the article had helped Wada’s head of media relations, James Fitzgerald, obtain official media accreditation to attend the prestigious Masters as a Reuters reporter in April. Media access means free entry to the tournament and the opportunity to attend press conferences and exclusive media events.

As a result, Reuters has now retracted its own article about Usada’s practice, with a spokesperson saying: “A journalist who no longer works for Reuters has acknowledged that they assisted a Wada representative in obtaining a press credential from Reuters for the 2024 Masters tournament, a violation of our journalistic standards.

“That’s why we have the stories ‘Athletes undercover? Global and US anti-doping agencies clash over tactics’ and ‘Wada renews call for USADA to get tougher on testing’. While we support the accuracy of the reporting, Reuters newsgathering standards were not met, particularly as they relate to avoiding the appearance of bias in our purchasing.”

Fitzgerald said: “My attendance at that event in April was separate from my role at Wada and was a personal matter. All associated costs were fully paid by me and I was there on my own time. Wada responded to questions from Reuters, as is customary.”

The stories came as Usada and Wada traded insults in a war of words, with Usada criticizing Wada for not challenging Chinese authorities over 23 positive tests for trimetazidine. (TMZ) and two positive tests for metandienone among the swim team.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart said: “It is high time for everyone who values ​​clean sport to join the International Olympic Committee and public authorities to vindicate Wada and strengthen the movement’s credibility. recover.”