The international feud between the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is showing no signs of slowing down in the wake of the Paris Olympics.
On Wednesday, WADA told Reuters that it has learned of three cases between 2011 and 2014 where USADA allowed athletes who had been caught breaking doping rules to continue competing in exchange for information on other violators.
“WADA is now aware of at least three cases where athletes who had committed serious anti-doping rule violations were allowed to continue to compete for years while they acted as undercover agents for USADA, without it notifying WADA and without there being any provision allowing such a practice under the (global) code or USADA’s own rules,” WADA said.
WADA noted that the three athletes are now retired, but it declined to name them due to concerns for their safety. WADA said two were low-ranking runners while another athlete had a higher profile. WADA said it declined to pursue an appeal because the athletes were already retired by the time they learned of USADA’s practice in 2021, at which point it told USADA to stop.
WADA said the higher-profile athlete’s case “was never published, results never disqualified, prize money never returned, and no suspension ever served.”
USADA defended its handling of past cases and said it wants to keep using confidential informants.
“It’s an effective way to get at these bigger, systemic problems,” USADA chief Travis Tygart said. “If you’ve got agents or others who are preying on athletes and trafficking… I think it’s totally appropriate.”
The global anti-doping code gives leeway for suspensions to be reduced if athletes “substantially” assist with a doping investigation. But WADA believes athletes should not continue competing without first being prosecuted and sanctioned publicly.
WADA argued that USADA’s tactic “can be used to justify a failure to prosecute a case for years while doped athletes are sent back into the field as undercover informants to compete against clean athletes.”
The two anti-doping agencies have been embroiled in a war of words ever since news broke earlier this year that 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared of positive doping tests in 2021 due to environmental contamination from their hotel kitchen.
A Swiss prosecutor appointed by WADA to review the global anti-doping authority’s handling of the case found that WADA made an “indisputably reasonable” decision not to challenge the contamination conclusion reached by Chinese authorities. But American law enforcement is also examining the Chinese doping controversy under the Rodchenkov Act, which was passed in 2020 to extend U.S. jurisdiction to international sporting competitions featuring American athletes or financial connections.
Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) inserted a clause into Salt Lake City’s host contract for the 2034 Winter Olympics that allows IOC the right to withdraw the Games if the “supreme authority” of WADA “is not fully respected.” WADA also said last week that it would take USADA to its Independent Compliance Review Committee this month over the Rodchenkov Act, another move that could threaten American hosting plans for Los Angeles 2028 and Salt Lake City 2034.
Related: One Strike, You’re Out: Michael Phelps Calls for Lifetime Ban for Anyone Caught Doping
