WADA asks ‘independent prosecutor’ to look into Chinese swimmers’ case

MIAMI:

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Thursday it had asked an independent prosecutor to review the handling of a case where 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a prescription heart drug.

The agency will also send a “compliance audit team” to China to “assess the current state of the country’s anti-doping program” run by anti-doping agency CHINADA.

WADA has faced criticism since media reports over the weekend that swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) — which can enhance performance — ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but no sanctions were imposed after WADA accepted the Chinese authorities’ argument that the case was caused by food contamination.

United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart called the situation a “possible cover-up,” and USADA on Thursday called WADA’s announcement of an independent investigation “self-serving.”

WADA said in a statement that it had asked former Swiss public prosecutor Eric Cottier to review the handling of the case.

“WADA’s integrity and reputation are under attack. In recent days, WADA has been unfairly accused of serious bias in favor of China by not taking the CHINADA case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” said WADA President Witold Banka. .

“We continue to reject the false allegations and are pleased to place these questions in the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor,” Banka said.

WADA said Cottier would have “full and unfettered” access to all their files and documents related to the case and added that he was free to consult any independent expert as he saw fit.

Cottier was asked to assess whether there was any bias towards China or “any undue interference or other impropriety” in the handling of the case.

The Swiss lawyer will also be asked to determine whether the decision not to challenge or appeal the CHINADA verdict that the cases involved food contamination was reasonable.

Cottier, who was prosecutor general of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland for 17 years before retiring in 2022 and was previously a judge, was asked to deliver his findings in two months.

The team traveling to China will also include “independent reviewers from the wider anti-doping community”.

WADA said the visit was part of its regular compliance monitoring programme.

WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: “Although not a shred of evidence has been presented to support any of the allegations made against WADA, we wish to deal with the matter as quickly and comprehensively as possible so that the matter properly addressed in advance. of the upcoming Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

WADA said it had received requests for the review from “a small number of stakeholders” and that their decisions had been supported by their executive committee.

USADA had called on Tuesday for major reform of WADA, urging governments and sports bodies to “review WADA to ensure that the cover-up of positive samples on the eve of the Olympics never happens again”.

USADA said in a statement Thursday that WADA’s latest statement “illustrates the problem with the current system.”

“By calling this an ‘independent’ investigation, WADA leadership is trying to pull the wool over our eyes,” USADA said in a statement. “Rather than WADA’s handpicked lawyer with a narrow and self-serving scope of review, the world’s athletes deserve a truly independent review panel with a wide range of review consisting of an independent athlete representative and impartial respected lawyers with anti-doping expertise appointed by government consent.

“A truly independent investigation also requires an investigation of events in China related to this case to include interviews with hotel staff, athletes, coaches, etc. immunity for whistleblowers including WADA and CHINADA officials, full access to all the internal emails from WADA and CHINADA, as well as raw data from the lab in China.”

“All findings, and the documents on which those findings are based, must also be made public,” USADA added.

Beijing has labeled reports of the case “fake news”.

“The related reports are fake news and not real,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday.