WADA initiates an independent investigation into its management of the Chinese swimming case.
A recent development in the world of anti-doping has caused a stir, potentially overshadowing swimming events at this year's Olympics in Paris. This came about after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) faced criticism from the anti-doping community, leading to a dispute.
In a New York Times-German ARD report released recently, it was revealed that Chinese athletes were able to compete and even win medals at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago despite testing positive for heart medication trimetazidine months prior. The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has been quite vocal in its condemnation of WADA, accusing the organization and Chinese officials of concealing these positive test results.
WADA's president, Witold Bańka, however, insists that the agency followed all due processes and found "no evidence of wrongdoing" regarding the Chinese swimmers in question. During a press conference earlier in the week, WADA's general counsel, Ross Wenzel, shared that trimetazidine was discovered in the kitchen of a hotel where the athletes had stayed during a training camp.
"We have no evidence of any sort of mischief or planting of trimetazidine," Wenzel told reporters on Monday. He went on to say that it would have been impossible for WADA to go to a tribunal and request that they draw the inference of wrongdoing without any supporting evidence.
In a statement released on Thursday, Bańka defended WADA's integrity and reputation, stating that the agency has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China for not appealing the CHINADA (China Anti-Doping Agency) case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CHINADA cited a Chinese state agency Xinhua, stating that the swimmers in question tested positive for a "very low concentration" of trimetazidine at a national swimming event in 2021. This substance, which has been banned by WADA since 2014, can potentially boost endurance. CHINADA eventually decided that the athletes should not be held responsible for the results of their positive tests, as their food was inadvertently contaminated.
WADA has now tapped Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, who was the attorney general of Vaud in Switzerland for 17 years before his recent retirement, to lead a review into how this case was handled. However, USADA has called WADA's leadership out, accusing them of trying to mislead people with this investigation. USADA wishes for a truly independent review panel with a wide scope of review, comprised of an athlete representative and impartial jurists with anti-doping experience, appointed by government consensus.
WADA responded by stating that Cottier would be granted unrestricted access to all relevant files and documents related to the 2021 case. He is expected to provide his findings within two months.
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After the revelation of Chinese athletes' positive tests for trimetazidine in a New York Times-German ARD report, WADA initiated an independent investigation to examine its handling of the case, led by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier. Despite WADA's president, Witold Bańka, claiming no evidence of wrongdoing, USADA continues to accuse the agency of bias and misleading people, calling for a truly independent review panel.
Source: edition.cnn.com
