The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published a statement by its president, Witold Bańka, in which he criticized the ongoing attempts in the United States to accuse the organization of an unqualified or even biased approach to the case of Chinese swimmers. Korrespondent Sport reports on new rounds of confrontation, in which both sides are playing completely unexpected trump cards — Russian ones.
They didn’t believe in Valieva’s grandfather’s glass, but they believed in the hotel’s kitchenBackground. 23 leading Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine on the eve of 2021. A substance that will be found in the body of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva a year later. Both the Chinese and the Russians have a minuscule concentration of trimetazidine — at the level of the detection threshold. But if in the case of Kamila, WADA demanded the most severe punishment and eventually achieved it through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), then Banka’s department readily agreed with the version of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) about accidental contamination.
Although there are enough weaknesses in Chinese theory. They claimed that trimetazidine was almost sprayed throughout the kitchen of the hotel where the swimmers lived — although it is unclear how this relates to the fact that this medicine is available in capsules, which, in fact, did not allow Valieva’s side to argue for the version that the sample was contaminated through grandfather's glass. It is also extremely strange that, according to the Chinese side, traces of trimetazidine were found everywhere in the hotel two months after the athletes passed positive samples, despite the fact that this was the height of the coronavirus pandemic and thorough cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces had to be carried out several times a day. Finally, just the other day, the German television channel ARD reported that, contrary to the rules, CHINADA did not even notify the athletes themselves about their positive samples.
Despite all of the above, WADA not only did not protest CHINADA’s conclusions about the athletes’ innocence, but also did not make the case public. As a result, many of those Chinese swimmers went to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, from where they returned with medals. Some of those who passed positive tests more than three years ago are planning to go to the Olympics in Paris. In principle, this does not contradict the anti-doping code, but compare, for example, this state of affairs with the suspensions from previous Olympic Games without any explanation of many Russians who did not have positive samples in their background. A classic illustration of a saying that begins with the words “the law is what the pole is.”
They killed Russia together, but quarreled over China. For many years, WADA committed lawlessness against our athletes with the active support of the American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), whose president Travis Tygart became the main anti-Russian herald. Only in the Valieva case did this official speak out regularly and categorically, accusing all Russian figure skating of uncleanliness. And in general, if you read Tygart’s quotes over the last ten years, all Russian sport is a fiend of doping hell.
Chinese sports for the United States, presumably, have the same status, given that by the Olympics in Beijing, athletes from the Middle Kingdom improved in all disciplines and since then have been providing serious competition to the Americans almost everywhere. It is probably for this reason that WADA’s actions in the case of Chinese swimmers in the United States were perceived as a stab in the back by its loyal allies. As, in fact, WADA considered Tygart’s very first comments to be a betrayal, in which he called the closure of the case of Chinese swimmers and their admission to the Olympic Games in Tokyo outrageous. The organization even convened an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors, at which the leaders explained why they did not protest the Chinese theory at CAS. In a nutshell, WADA supposedly had no evidence of the guilt of the Chinese athletes, therefore, there were no legal prospects in CAS. Banka’s department did not want to get involved in a obviously lost case.
However, the American Anti-Doping Agency knows firsthand that CAS, when necessary, can “fail” any theory. Especially one like the Chinese one, which, to be honest, from a probabilistic point of view, is much inferior to the version about the strawberry dessert, which was ultimately presented by Valieva’s lawyers and failed in court. That’s why they perceived WADA’s refusal to appeal to “Lausanne justice” as a manifestation of favoritism towards their principled opponents. USADA demanded in an ultimatum to disclose all information regarding the case of the Chinese swimmers, as well as to bring to justice all those involved in concealing the facts.
However, WADA, which already suffered an image defeat due to Banka’s recent revelations in a conversation with Russian pranksters, reacted extremely negatively to the attacks from the United States. The agency clearly does not want to allow another blow to its reputation. And in order to put recent allies in their place, WADA dumped incriminating evidence on American anti-doping into the public space. Actually, this is something that has been talked about a lot, but which WADA did not pay attention to. For example, the fact that the World Anti-Doping Code does not apply to professional overseas leagues and college sports, which is why 90% of American athletes are not under the control of WADA. For this, “Banka and his minions” (quote from a USADA release) in the States were called “manipulators penetrating the depths of disinformation and half-truths.”
Gradually, the confrontation reached the level of the highest political authorities. This week, a hearing was organized in one of the chambers of the US Congress, which was called “an analysis of anti-doping measures ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.” Famous athletes also took part in them. In particular, 23-time Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps accused WADA of “failing to protect the integrity of international sport and the rights of athletes to compete fairly.” And Senators Maria Cantwell and Ted Cruz sent a letter to Banke, in which they demanded, in a rather ultimatum form, to provide by July 5 all documents on the case of the Chinese swimmers, including those received from CHINADA, as well as information available to WADA from experts.
< br>WADA gave a sharp response to the harsh demands, signed by the president of the organization. Banka explained his refusal to send a representative to congressional hearings by his reluctance to get involved in the political struggle between the two superpowers. The WADA President's statement also points to double standards, illustrated by the acquittal of American sprinter Errion Knighton. USADA initially demanded a four-year disqualification, but then agreed with the version of contamination of the sample through meat and concluded that “justice has prevailed.” “It is intriguing that USADA carried out this reversal of opinion even without receiving a reasoned decision, which is not yet available. I can’t imagine what USADA would have said if such a decision had been made in the case of an athlete from China,” Banka noted ironically.
The WADA president also commented on the talk that has arisen in USADA about a possible refusal to pay the annual membership fee, which is more than $3.5 million. «If this happens, the United States will immediately lose all positions in the WADA management structure, including the executive committee. This will also lead to serious consequences for American sports, including due to the inevitable weakening of the fight against doping in other parts of the world, where the main rivals of American athletes are located,» the head of the world anti-doping regulator stated.
The “Russian trump cards” are out. In general, this discussion is very exciting to watch, and the other day it became even more exciting. Here's the thing. The letter from American senators contrasts the refusal to sanction Chinese swimmers with the story of… Valieva, who in a similar situation was disqualified for the maximum period. The document, of course, is written in the most restrained style, but even in it one can discern the intonation: here, you punished the poor Russian girl to the fullest extent, and 23 Chinese swimmers got away with it both literally and figuratively, went to the Olympic Games and won medals there , including gold. And this is written by the Americans, whose team, thanks to the disqualification of the Russian figure skater, gained the title of champions of the Olympic team tournament — at least for now, until the CAS decision on this issue has been made public.
WADA, in response, came up with a completely damning argument, as the organization probably believes. In terms of the number of doping tests taken, the United States is inferior to almost all other sports powers, and Russia is mentioned in this list.
“In 2023, USADA collected 7,773 samples from 3,011 athletes, according to their annual report,” says Banka. “This is a rather sad result, given the population of the country, the large number of athletes and the size of the Olympic team. With a budget twice as large, USADA collected half as many samples, The French anti-doping agency also collects significantly more samples than USADA, although its budget is barely 1/3 the size of America's. federations.»
However, this rhetoric with the mention of Russia and Russian athletes should not be perceived as anything other than verbal fencing. American congressmen, based on the facts in the Valieva case, are not at all calling for our athlete to be acquitted. And Banka, citing the Russian Anti-Doping Agency as an example to the Americans, is in no hurry to restore its full status, coming up with new reasons not to do this. It’s just that if earlier it was advantageous for WADA and USADA to act together against us, now in the momentary tactics of these organizations, which unexpectedly clashed with each other, it is advantageous to trump Russia in order to prick each other. But in fact for us it is, as it was before, the love of a toad and a viper. It’s just that the period has come when darlings scold.