WADA claim victory after independent report but sceptics demand answers over Chinese swimming scandal
Despite being cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent report, the World Anti-Doping Agency is facing fresh calls to reveal everything it knows about the Chinese swimming drug scandal.
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Australian Olympic cycling legend Anna Meares says athletes need to keep faith in the systems that are meant to protect clean competitors after the latest explosive development in the Chinese swimming scandal that has rocked world sport in the lead up to the Paris Olympics.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is facing fresh criticism from drug-catchers and athlete bodies to reveal everything it knows about the fishy Chinese saga after being cleared of wrongdoing over its decision not to reopen the investigation.
While WADA was quick to claim victory after an independent prosecutor found the global regulator didn’t break any rules by choosing not to challenge China’s decision to pardon all the swimmers, plenty of others disagreed.
“This is unsurprising since WADA itself hand-picked the investigator and set the extremely limited scope of the investigation, preventing a meaningful review,” said US anti-drugs crusader Travis Tygart.
Global Athlete & FairSport also cast doubts on the credibility of the review in a fiery joint statement.
“Today’s futile report reinforces what athletes have been requesting for years – reform and restructuring of the anti-doping movement and its leadership. Until all related documents are made public, trust in the system will not be regained and WADA’s position as the global regulator will continue to be challenged.”
But Meares, who is heading to Paris as the Australian Olympic team’s chef de mission, said she still had faith in WADA and hoped others would as well.
“We understand that WADA has followed their process and I think that’s really important,” Meares said.
“The key to me is for athletes to feel like they can have trust in the process and the transparency of that process.
“And hopefully this will take the distraction of that off the table, because for the athletes, the less distraction for them at Games time, the better.”
Meares said she would not stand in the way of any Australian athlete if they wanted to voice their opinion on a controversial topic but said she would remind them there’s potential consequences if they protest at medal ceremonies or during events.
“We still look for champions of clean sport and so we have to have spokespeople for it,” she said.
“And I like that people are getting caught. That means sport is staying as clean as it can be. It’s not an easy thing to do, and the bodies in place are working really hard to be able to keep it clean.
“It’s an ongoing challenge that just keeps evolving…but you have to have faith in the system and you have to believe in the process and the transparency of it. As I’ve said to the athletes, my job is to deal with the shit. You get to have the fun stuff.”
Meares’ comments came after Swiss lawyer Eric Cottier released his review into WADA’s handling of the case, which was first reported by this masthead in mid April, setting off a global firestorm.
With the Paris Olympics fast approaching, Cottier was asked to focus on two areas: whether WADA was bias towards China and whether WADA followed the rules in accepting the decision by Chinese anti-doping authorities (CHINADA) not to sanction the swimmers after they all tested positive for trimetazidine, or TMZ, a banned heart drug that normally incurs an automatic suspension.
“There is nothing in the file – which is complete - to suggest that WADA showed favouritism or deference, or in any way favoured the 23 swimmers who tested positive for TMZ between 1 and 3 January 2021, when it proceeded to review CHINADA’s decision to close the proceedings against them without further action,” Cottier wrote in his report.
WADA President Witold Banka welcomed the findings, saying they completely exonerated the agency of any fault.
None of the Chinese swimmers who subsequently won medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will be stripped off their prizes. Nor will any who have been selected for the upcoming Paris Olympics be banned from competing, unless new evidence surfaces.
But that doesn;t mean the issue is over, because World Aquatics is conducting a separate review and its CEO Brent Nowicki has been subpoenaed to testify in a US criminal investigation, which WADA refused to attend.
“The WADA report issued by Mr. Cottier today provides athletes and the world with some additional information,” Tygart said. “But unfortunately, still leaves most of the critical questions unanswered when it comes to WADA allowing China to sweep 23 positive tests for a potent performance-enhancing drug under the carpet.”
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