The United States accused of fraud for allowing athletes to compete while doped

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a note, this Thursday (8/8), which presents in detail a series of frauds allegedly committed by the United States Anti-Doping Agency ( USADA), over the past few years. years to allow athletes to compete doped. The issue came to light after journalists denounced a structure put in place by the American entity so that athletes could act without punishment or being prevented from participating in competitions.

According to WADA, at least three athletes competed for years, with USADA’s knowledge, without imposing any sanctions or notifying the global body. In one case, an elite athlete, whose name has not been released, admitted to using steroids and other illegal substances, but continued to compete in Olympic qualifications and events international until his retirement. “His case was never made public, the results were never disqualified, the prize money was never returned and he was never banned,” WADA said in an official statement.

Still in a statement, WADA criticized USADA’s stance, classifying it as “hypocritical” because of the frequent complaints made against athletes from other countries, such as China and Russia. “How must other athletes feel knowing that they competed in good faith against those that USADA knew were cheating? It is ironic and hypocritical that USADA screams when it is suspected that other Anti-Doping Organizations are not following the rules to the letter. , although doping cases went unreported for years and allowed cheaters to continue competing,” WADA concluded.

What does USADA say?

USADA defended itself, claiming that the release of athletes for competition was intended to use them as confidential informants in wider investigations, including drug and human trafficking cases. Travis Tygart, USADA chief executive, said this strategy was effective in addressing larger systemic problems. However, the US body did not provide specific details about these cases, claiming that WADA was aware of the incidents before 2021, and classifying the allegations as “disreputable”.

The World Anti-Doping Code, to which USADA is a signatory, allows athletes who contribute significantly to investigations to partially suspend their punishments. However, according to Reuters, there is no provision that allows athletes to continue competing without being charged or disciplined.

View the WADA note in full

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) responds to an August 7, 2024 report revealing a scheme by which the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) allowed doped athletes to compete for years , in at least one case, never published. or control their anti-doping rule violations, such as direct violations of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA’s own rules.

This USADA scheme threatened the integrity of sporting competition, which the Code seeks to protect. By operating it, USADA was clearly breaking the rules. Despite claims made by USADA, WADA did not approve of this practice of allowing drug cheats to compete for years on the promise that they would try to obtain incriminating evidence against others .

The Code contains a provision whereby an athlete who provides substantial support may subsequently request that a portion of their ineligible period be suspended. However, there is a clear process for this, which does not involve allowing those who cheated to continue competing while they may or may not gather incriminating evidence against others and while ‘ as they could retain the performance enhancing effects of the substances they took. When WADA finally found out about this non-compliant practice in 2021, many years after it started, it immediately instructed USADA to stop.

WADA is now aware of at least three cases in which athletes who committed serious anti-doping rule violations were allowed to continue competing for years while working as USADA undercover agents, without notifying WADA and without any provision authorizing such use in USADA’s own Code or rules.

In one case, an elite athlete, competing in Olympic trials and international events in the United States, admitted to taking steroids and EPO but was allowed to continue competing until he resigned. His case was never made public, the results were never disqualified, the prize money was never returned, and he was never stopped. The athlete was allowed to compete against his unsuspecting rivals as if they had ever cheated. In this case, when USADA finally admitted to WADA what was happening, it advised that publishing the results or disqualifying the results would put the athlete’s safety at risk and asked WADA agreed to non-disclosure. Being placed in this impossible position, WADA had no choice but to agree (after confirming with its Intelligence and Research Department that the security threat was credible). Therefore, the athlete’s doping was never revealed.

In another case of a high-profile athlete, USADA never notified WADA of its decision to lift an athlete’s provisional ban, which is an appealable decision despite the fact that required to do so under the Code. If WADA had known, they would not have allowed this.

How must other athletes feel that they knew they were competing in good faith versus those who USADA knew had cheated? It is ironic and hypocritical that USADA screams when it is suspected that other Anti-Doping Organizations are not following the rules to the letter, even though they do not report doping cases for years and allow cheaters to continue ‘ competition, on the remote possibility that they could help them catch others. potential violators. WADA wonders if the USADA Board of Directors, which governs USADA, or the US Congress, which funds it, knew about this non-compliant practice which not only undermined the integrity of sports competition but which also put the safety of athletes at risk.”

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