The United States will pay half of its annual contribution to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and make the payment of the rest conditional on deeper reforms within the international body, we learned on Wednesday. “We must see a transformation of the executive committee of WADA”, said Richard Baum, coordinator of anti-doping in sport in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) at the White House.
– –
“His work is too important to even have the appearance of a conflict of interest”, he explained to the American Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. “We will provide a little more than half, 1.6 million dollars, of the 2.9 million” of the American contribution, he said. There have been “Good discussions” within WADA on reforms but the United States would like “See additional advances” before paying the other half, Baum added.
– –
Washington, WADA’s main contributor, had already threatened in July 2020 to stop its payments if the anti-doping agency did not implement governance reforms, especially within its executive committee. The United States notably criticized WADA’s management in the huge Russian doping scandal revealed after the Sochi Winter Games in 2014, and questioned its independence.
– – .
