US President Donald Trump ratified the Rodchenkov Act on Friday. This is a controversial law aimed at criminal prosecution of people who engage in a doping system at international events involving American athletes, including beyond the borders of the United States.
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The US Senate already approved the law last month. It allows the American justice system to prosecute persons involved in an international doping system, regardless of their nationality. They face up to ten years in prison and a fine of one million dollars.
The visor is mainly focused on the entourage of athletes, such as coaches, brokers, managers and officials. The athletes themselves can already be sanctioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Rodchenkov Act was already given the green light by the US House of Representatives in October 2019. After the Senate passed the Rodchenkov Act, it was only a matter of waiting for President Trump’s signature for the law to go into effect. The law is a response to the reactions of WADA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the demonstrated doping system in Russia between 2011 and 2015, which are perceived as too weak.
While the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) applauds the law, WADA is opposed to the Rodchenkov Act. WADA, which decided in 2019 to keep Russia away from international competitions for four years, fears this could lead to overlapping laws in different jurisdictions, eliminating one clear set of rules for all athletes around the world.
The Kremlin also said it was “worried” about the Rodchenkov Act. Spokesman Dmitri Peskov criticized this “attempt by the United States to extend its jurisdiction over other countries.”
Grigory Rodchenkov is the former director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory. The Russian whistleblower fled to the United States after demonstrating a state-directed doping program in his country.
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