UK and EU urged to follow US and block funding for World Anti-Doping Agency

Pressure is mounting on the World Anti-Doping Agency, with Britain and the European Union urged to stop funding the global body following the United States’ decision to withhold its financial support for Wada’s dealings with the 23 Chinese swimmers who may participate in the 2021 Olympic Games. .

Shadow sports minister Stuart Andrew is calling on the government to follow the example of President Joe Biden’s administration and consider withholding funds if Wada cannot show full transparency on the China matter.

Meanwhile, former Wada vice-president Linda Helleland, chair of the Council of Europe’s culture and sports committee and Norway’s shadow sports minister, is calling on her country to withdraw its support for Wada.

Andrew said: “We have very high standards in Britain and part of that is making sure athletes can be confident they are competing in what they know is fair. If there are any concerns surrounding Wada, we should press them for clarification on them. Releasing the papers will give the system confidence: if they can’t do that, I think we need to ask serious questions about Wada’s funding in the future.

“If Wada is confident that everything is robust and fair, what do they have to hide? It would give everyone confidence. If they can’t do that, we have to think seriously about the future.”

The US government has refused to pay its $3.6m (£2.9m) 2024 contribution to Wada and appears unlikely to pay it in the future under President Donald Trump’s administration, after it emerged last year that Wada had allowed 23 Chinese swimmers to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics even though they had tested positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ). Wada accepted the China Anti-Doping Agency’s statement that a kitchen at a team hotel could have contaminated all 23 samples.

An independent report on the China case, published last year, criticized Wada’s “disorganization” and found that China’s anti-doping agency had “significantly and fundamentally deviated from … procedure” but cleared Wada of bias. However, the scientific basis for acquitting the Chinese athletes has not yet been fully revealed and critics now want these documents published.

Helleland, who has tabled questions in the Norwegian parliament about future funding, said: “We are dealing with a global anti-doping organization that has been stripped of integrity and is failing to fulfill its duties. Her role is to fight doping and ensure fair competition between athletes, but she now seems more focused on protecting the interests of the dark forces that undermine the sport.

“As long as Wada fails to operate independently and transparently and shows no willingness for internal reforms and changes, Norwegian taxpayers should not contribute to the organization. The government should follow the US lead and withhold our funding. If we don’t support the Americans, we would be siding with Wada and China.

“Wada refuses to allow an independent investigation into its own activities and has instead produced a paid report that protects China. This is a country that also happened to provide Wada with additional financing during the same period.

“If Wada really has nothing to hide, it has nothing to fear. An independent investigation would confirm that Wada acted appropriately. At the moment it seems as if they have something to hide, which an international sports organization simply cannot afford.”

A Wada spokesperson said: “Annual contributions from governments to Wada are not dependent on requirements such as these. In addition, it would make no sense to choose to weaken the global anti-doping system for athletes in this way, as Wada was deemed to have properly handled the contamination cases involving the Chinese swimmers.

“An independent investigation into Wada’s handling of this matter … found that Wada showed no bias against China, that its decision not to take the cases to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was ‘indisputably reasonable’ and that the company followed the rules at all times. . The prosecutor’s report also outlined areas for possible improvement in anti-doping rules. Accordingly, a series of recommendations were unanimously approved at the Wada Executive Committee meeting in December.”