Among WADA’s critics is the White House, which rebuked the organization’s president in a letter last month. But the Biden administration can — and should — do more to hold international doping regulators accountable.
The Biden official leading the United States’ crusade against sports doping is Rahul Gupta, a physician and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (often referred to as the nation’s “drug czar”). This is because the United States doesn’t have a minister of sports or culture as many other countries do, so Congress delegated the duty to the ONDCP.
That makes Gupta the de facto U.S. representative to international governance bodies such as WADA. And thanks to previous advocacy efforts to better oversee WADA, he also serves on its executive committee, which, per WADA statute, has “the responsibility of supervising the organization’s management.”
Astonishingly, Gupta told me during an interview that this committee did not learn about China’s positive tests until hours before the story broke in April. “This is not something that has ever been discussed in the executive committee or in any other venue that we were ever in,” Gupta said. “We were as surprised as everybody else.”
In other words, WADA’s leadership waited more than three years to inform its own executive committee of the revelations. An agency spokesperson told me that this event did not rise to the level of such disclosure, which is hardly credible. Had the organization followed its standard protocol, it would have provisionally suspended all of the 23 athletes in 2021. This would have caused huge uproar in China and major problems for the international sporting community, especially because China was set to host the 2022 Winter Games.
A matter with such significant geopolitical consequences surely merited a consultation with the executive committee. This is why the White House’s letter to WADA, which Gupta signed, demands an explanation for why these members were not made aware of the agency’s decision, “as they have been for other, previous, doping cases.” It also calls for a truly independent commission to reopen the investigation into the 23 swimmers.
These are a good start, but the Biden administration should go further. A new law, passed in 2020, empowers the U.S. government to prosecute individuals for doping schemes at international sporting competitions that involve U.S. athletes. Prosecutors can seek fines up to $1 million and prison sentences of up to 10 years for doping conspiracies.
The Justice Department should not hesitate to open its own investigation into this matter. There is a bipartisan push for such action: Last month, Reps. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) urged the attorney general and the FBI director to find out whether the alleged doping practices were state-sponsored. As the congressmen wrote in a letter, such a finding “could warrant further diplomatic measures by the United States and the international community.”
The federal government should also seriously consider whether it will continue funding WADA. The United States contributes more to the agency’s budget than any other nation. While it is important to have a global regulatory body, rules cannot be selectively applied, and decisions should not be rendered in secret without oversight.
The chair of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for WADA, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), told me he and many of his colleagues have long been concerned about WADA’s lack of transparency. This incident “brings our worst fears to life,” he said.
A few years ago, Van Hollen’s committee allowed the ONDCP to withhold the United States’ dues to WADA. “We hope Dr. Gupta will use that important tool that is available to him,” Van Hollen said. If WADA does not make necessary reforms, Congress “could then direct [the] ONDCP to withhold funding until conditions are met.”
These are dramatic steps, but the situation calls for them. This isn’t just about the 23 athletes who should have received sanctions out of fairness to their competitors; it also is about the role of WADA and the future of international sport.
Gupta, as the Biden administration’s representative, must make the choice clear: Either WADA commits to changing its practices, or the United States and its partners will divert resources to another entity that can uphold the highest standards of fairness, integrity and transparency.
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