US lawmakers accuse Olympic leaders of blackmail over their fight with IOC, World Anti-Doping Agency

Instead of reexamining a drug-fighting law Olympic leaders don’t like, a bipartisan group in Congress is proposing a new bill that would hold back funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency if it doesn’t do its job better.

One Republican and one Democrat from both the Senate and the House rolled out a bill Tuesday that would make permanent a now-temporary ability of the U.S. office of drug control to withhold the $3 million-plus payment the government is supposed to give to WADA each year.

“I think WADA looks really bad here,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. “I don’t think their position looks at all sustainable.”

Last week, the IOC awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics but only after extracting a promise that organizers would work to undercut a 2020 law that was designed to root out international doping conspiracies.

WADA largely supported the IOC position, threatening last week that it might hold America’s anti-doping agency in noncompliance if it finds the law does not conform with international rules.

Both organizations have lobbied against the law, which passed without a dissenting vote, saying it gives too much authority to the United States to enforce world anti-doping rules.

That law is currently being used to investigate WADA and other agencies’ handling of one of a handful of cases involving Chinese swimmers that have marred the start of the Olympics.

“This brazen attempt by the IOC and WADA to force Utah to interfere in an investigation would win the gold medal in blackmail,” said U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich.

The bill’s other co-sponsors are Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.

Moolenaar said the “Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act” would direct Rahul Gupta, the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to ensure WADA adheres to best practices in eliminating conflicts of interest and also to “maintain strict standards to counter state-sponsored doping efforts.”

Advocates also would like to see better athlete representation among WADA decision-makers — an area the agency has tried to improve on in recent years.

“Since my term on the WADA (athlete commission), athlete representation has been increasingly marginalized and misrepresented,” said two-time Paralympian Greta Neimanas, who served from 2017-20.

The U.S. is slated to give but has not yet delivered $3.62 million to WADA this year, which marks the biggest contribution from a single country to the agency’s $52 million budget.

The threat of holding back money has been raised on occasion, including in 2019, when WADA lobbied against parts of the Rodchenkov Act — the law that went into effect in 2021.

Even though the IOC used the law as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Salt Lake City, there seems to be very little chance that anything will come of the threat.

Just as the Rodchenkov Act passed without a “no” vote, this latest news shows the bitterly divided U.S. government seems in agreement about WADA. Also, the IOC has had difficulty finding bidders to host Winter Olympics, let alone ones as enthusiastic as those from Utah’s capital.

“That sort of blackmail and bullying is exactly the problem that we’re trying to get at,” Van Hollen said. “I think that their position is absolutely unsustainable, and I’m confident that will not happen at the end of the day.”

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This story has been corrected to show that Sen. Chris Van Hollen represents Maryland, not New Jersey.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games