German sports politicians criticise WADA in Paris WADA chief Banka rules out resignation
Meeting of WADA bosses with a sports committee delegation in Paris due to the scandal surrounding unsanctioned doping cases in China – USADA head Tygart counters WADA criticism in ARD interview.
Circumstances have helped the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Paris. Not they, but the International Testing Agency, are responsible for doping controls at the Olympic Games in Paris - WADA is only monitoring the tests. This background role is very convenient because it means they can avoid answering annoying questions. For example, why it tolerated not acting in accordance with the statutes several times after Chinese swimmers tested positive for doping. And why all the swimmers went unpunished in the end.
But shortly before the end of the Olympic Games, the failings caught up with the anti-doping bosses in Paris. In a meeting with a delegation from the Sports Committee of the German Bundestag, which was not publicly announced beforehand, WADA President Witold Banka, his director general Olivier Niggli and their chief legal counsel Ross Wenzel were called to account. On Thursday morning, the WADA trio answered questions from the sports politicians from Berlin for almost two hours in room Lab 01 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Porte Maillot.
"Reservations about the leadership"
In the weeks before, the anti-doping campaigners had avoided such situations. Banka, the former Polish Sports Minister, turned down a recent invitation from the sports committee in Berlin, as well as similar questioning in the US Congress. Politicians in Germany have long been openly debating whether Banka is still the right man to head WADA. "He has been told that there are reservations about the leadership from the ranks of the sports committee," said SPD member Christian Schreider after the meeting. "He rejected this and ruled out personal consequences."
Overall, the politicians were not particularly convinced by the WADA leadership's presentation. For months now, it has had to justify itself for having twice rubber-stamped decisions by the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency that 24 swimmers were neither banned nor their cases made public due to alleged contamination with highly effective doping substances following positive doping samples. One of those was even cleared twice.
Smoke screen ignited
"In my view, WADA has missed many opportunities in this overall complex to ensure transparency and clarification," said CSU politician Stephan Mayer. SPD sports committee member Schreider clearly states: "We expect WADA to continue investigating the Chinese case." CSU sports politician Mayer calls for "a structural and personnel reform of WADA". WADA must "regain the trust that has been lost. And in my view, this can only be achieved with a fresh start."
Almost at the same time as the meeting with the German politicians, WADA had issued a press release that seemed like a smokescreen in the fiasco surrounding the Chinese cases. In it, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which is currently WADA's fiercest critic, was targeted: "USADA allowed doped athletes to compete for years, in at least one case, without ever disclosing or sanctioning their anti-doping rule violations, in direct violation of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA's own rules."
A rigged game?
However, there was a catch in WADA's argument: the point was that convicted dopers were left untouched as informants in order to provide information on the doping of other athletes and backers. WADA itself admitted that they had been informed since 2021 that this was happening. The fact that the case has now been made public - first by an agency report from Reuters and immediately afterwards by an official WADA statement - seems like a set-up, and not just for USADA.
"We know that WADA put some reporters on the trail and even gave them the names of affected athletes, which is very unfortunate. I think the reason WADA is doing this is to try to deflect attention from issues involving the Chinese swimmers," USADA chief Travis Tygart told ARD.
"When the cases came up in 2014 and before, over ten years ago, the leadership of WADA at the time had approved our actions. As did the responsible international association. It was closely involved in guiding the informants, approving the procedure and using the information to uncover systemic doping and networks that exploited athletes or involved them in other offences. Now, ten years later, there is a new leadership at WADA that no longer wants to use these tools."
WADA denies having had knowledge of the events before 2021 or ever approving the procedure. It even claims to have been deceived by USADA in one of the cases in that it had assumed that the doper in question had long since been punished, while he continued to take part in competitions for years. Top WADA officials in office at the time could not be reached by ARD.
WADA rejects undercover operations
Tygart says that the rules still allow such undercover operations by dopers, "but WADA has become more lenient: It has said it doesn't want this sort of thing anymore." Tygart is familiar with the approach of accused athletes going on the offensive when they are under pressure, as WADA is now apparently doing against USADA, from previous cases.
"This is exactly what Lance Armstrong did when he was asked questions about his doping, trying to turn the tables and attack the very people who are asking legitimate questions," says Tygart, "we understand that this is how these types of people operate. It's sad that the leaders for clean sport and integrity in sport worldwide are acting like this. It clearly shows that they have something to hide, because why not just open the files and answer the basic questions?"
He is now increasingly pinning his hopes for clarification in the China affair on politicians, as the world's Governments contribute half of WADA's annual budget. "It took an explicit letter from the US Congress for WADA to finally admit that China didn't play by the rules. They had never admitted that before the letter to Congress," says USADA chief Tygart, "so you see what happens when bodies with authority ask questions. They are forced to answer questions."
German sports politician Mayer says that he advised the WADA leadership around Banka to face questions from the media, such as ARD, on camera in Paris in order to "present WADA's professional position. And I personally regretted the fact that this suggestion was not at all well received and was immediately shot down.”