Congressional Committee Presses WADA President for Info on Chinese Sponsorship

The Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote a six-page letter to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka on Thursday, raising lingering questions related to 23 Chinese swimmers who were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance seven months prior.

Banka declined to attend a Congressional hearing last month where Olympic swimming champions Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt testified, but hit back with a statement a day later saying the U.S. is “playing politics” and pitting American athletes against other countries. The Congressional committee argued in Thursday’s letter that WADA has a responsibility to the American people as a U.S. taxpayer-supported entity.

Much of the criticism is recycled as the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has been aggressively calling out WADA over the past three months since reports surfaced in April that the global anti-doping authority accepted the theory that Chinese swimmers unwittingly ingested trimetazidine (TMZ) via contamination in their hotel kitchen. However, there seem to be a couple new bits of information worth exploring.

The Congressional committee accused WADA of potential conflict of interest involving its three-year sponsorship deal with ANTA Sports. ANTA is the largest sports goods company in China, a sponsor of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and a sponsor of the Chinese national swimming federation.

The letter claims that the leadership of the Chinese anti-doping authority, CHINADA, is “deeply intertwined” with the Chinese Communist Party, noting that CHINADA director Li Zhiquan also serves as committee secretary for the CCP. Last year, Li told CHINADA employees to be “loyal to the party” and to “hold high the great banner of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”

The letter also points to the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to highlight WADA’s supposed double standard. Valieva was stripped of her gold medal and dealt a four-year ban for ingesting the same substance, TMZ, which the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) also claimed was taken by mistake.

The letter ends with a series of 13 questions, with responses requested by August 8:

1. When and how did WADA first receive the positive TMZ test results for the 23 swimmers?
2. Did WADA ever make public the fact that 23 swimmers tested positive for TMZ in January of 2021 before the media publicized the story in 2024?
3. Please provide a list of all individuals at WADA that were involved in the decision not to appeal CHINADA’s decision related to the positive TMZ tests of 23 Chinese swimmers.
4. Please provide a list of all individuals outside of WADA whose input was sought or who provided input into WADA’s decision not to appeal CHINADA’s decision related to the positive TMZ tests of 23 Chinese swimmers.
5. Please provide a detailed explanation of WADA’s decision not to appeal CHINADA’s decision related to the positive TMZ tests of 23 Chinese swimmers.
   1. Provide copies of all related communications (e.g., emails, texts, electronic messages) with employees, pharmaceutical manufacturers, consultants, experts, and any other entity that provided input related to this decision.
   2. Provide all contemporaneous work-product related to this decision, including any reports, summaries, scientific analyzes, test results, or related written materials that was prepared for or shared with WADA.
6. Please provide a detailed timeline, including dates, times, types, and substance of all communications between CHINADA and WADA, from the date WADA initially learned of the positive test results to the date WADA decided not to appeal CHINADA’s decision and pursue an investigation.
   1. Provide copies of all communications (i.e., emails, text messages, electronic messages) between WADA and CHINADA related to this decision.
7. Please provide a copy of the complete case file containing all information related to the positive TMZ tests for the 23 swimmers.
8. Several of the 23 swimmers have reportedly tested positive for banned substances in other instances.Please provide specific detail about which swimmers, the banned substance, the date of positive test results, and an explanation of how WADA handled each of the cases.
9. Please provide a detailed explanation of and documents, including electronic communications, related to CHINADA’s reported contribution to WADA of nearly $2 million over its required annual dues payment.
10. Please provide a detailed explanation of and documents, including electronic communications, related to WADA’s reported three-year sponsorship agreement with the largest Chinese sporting goods company, ANTA Sports.
11. Will WADA commit to making public the final investigation report by the special prosecutor as soon as it is available?
12. In its June 18, 2024, letter to the Committee, WADA appears to acknowledge that the anti-doping rules were not followed in this case, stating “based on CHINADA’s own findings, CHINADA should have recorded violations in these cases […].” What action does WADA intend to take given its acknowledgment of CHINADA’s failure to follow the rules?
13. What additional policies are being implemented by WADA to ensure the trust of the international athletic community and the integrity of the competition ahead of the Paris Olympic Games?

You can read the letter in full here. Eleven of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive foro TMZ are scheduled to compete at the Paris Olympics starting on Saturday.

• Related: Independent Prosecutor Rules WADA Showed No Bias in Handling of Chinese Doping Case