German sports politicians criticize WADA in Paris: WADA president Banka rules out resignation

WADA chiefs meet with sports committee delegation in Paris over China unsanctioned doping scandal – USADA chief Tygart refutes WADA criticism in ARD interview

Circumstances have helped the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Paris. Not they, but the International Testing Agency is responsible for doping controls at the Paris Olympics – WADA merely oversees the testing. This background role is very useful because it means they can avoid awkward questions. For example, why it tolerated multiple instances of non-compliance with the statutes after Chinese swimmers tested positive for doping. And why all the swimmers ultimately went unpunished.

But shortly before the end of the Olympic Games, the anti-doping bosses in Paris were hit by failure. In a meeting with a delegation from the Sports Committee of the German Bundestag, which was not made public in advance, WADA President Witold Banka, his Director General Olivier Niggli and their chief legal adviser 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 of the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Porte Maillot.

“Reservations on leadership”

In the weeks before, anti-doping campaigners had avoided such situations. Banka, the former Polish sports minister, turned down a recent invitation from the sports committee to Berlin, as well as similar requests in the U.S. Congress. Politicians in Germany have long openly debated whether Banka is still the right man to lead WADA. “He was told that there were reservations about the leadership from within the sports committee,” SPD member Christian Schreider said after the meeting. “He turned this down and ruled out personal consequences.”

On the whole, the politicians were not exactly convinced by the presentation of the WADA management. For months, it had to justify itself for the fact that it had twice approved the decisions of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency that 24 swimmers had not been suspended and their cases had not been made public for alleged contamination with highly effective doping substances after positive doping samples. One of them was even acquitted twice.

Smoke screen ignited

“In my opinion, WADA has missed many opportunities in this overall complex to ensure transparency and clarification,” said CSU politician Stephan Mayer. SPD sports commissioner Schreider states clearly: “We expect WADA to continue to investigate the Chinese case.” CSU sports politician Mayer calls for “a structural and personnel reform of WADA.” WADA must “regain the lost trust. And in my opinion, this can only be achieved with a fresh start.”

Almost simultaneously with the meeting with the German politicians, WADA had issued a press release that seemed to be a smokescreen in the fiasco surrounding the Chinese affairs. It attacked the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), currently WADA’s fiercest critic: “USADA allowed doping 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?

There was a catch to WADA’s argument, however: the point was that convicted dopers were being left untouched as informants to provide information about the doping of other athletes and sponsors. WADA itself admitted that it had been aware of this happening since 2021. The fact that the matter has now been made public – first by an agency report from Reuters and immediately afterwards by an official WADA statement – ​​seems like a trap, and not just for USADA.

“We know that WADA has tracked down some reporters and even given them the names of the affected athletes, which is very unfortunate. I think the reason WADA is doing this is to distract from the problems with the Chinese swimmers,” USADA chief Travis Tygart told ARD.

“When the cases came up in 2014 and before that, more than a decade ago, the leadership of WADA at the time had approved our actions. As did the responsible international association. They were intimately involved in guiding the informants, approving the process and using the information to expose systematic doping and networks that exploited athletes or involved them in other violations. Now, a decade later, there is a new leadership at WADA that no longer wants to use these tools.”

WADA denies having knowledge of the events prior to 2021 or ever having approved the procedure. It even claims to have been misled by USADA in one of the cases, who assumed that the doping user in question had long since been punished, while he continued to compete for years. The most senior WADA officials in office at the time could not be reached by ARD.

WADA rejects undercover operations

Tygart says the rules still allow for such covert operations by dopers, “but WADA has softened up: it has said it doesn’t want this kind of thing anymore.” Tygart is familiar with the approach of accused athletes who go on the offensive when put under pressure, as WADA is now apparently doing against USADA, from previous cases.

“This is exactly what Lance Armstrong did when he was questioned about his doping, he tried to turn the tables and attack the people who were asking legitimate questions,” Tygart said, “we understand that this is how these types of people operate. It is sad that the leaders for clean sport and integrity in sports around the world are behaving this way. It clearly shows that they have something to hide, because why wouldn’t they just open the files and answer the basic questions?”

He increasingly places his hopes for clarification in the China affair on politicians, since world governments contribute half of WADA’s annual budget. “It took an explicit letter from the U.S. Congress for WADA to finally admit that China was not in compliance. They had never admitted that before the letter to Congress,” says USADA chief Tygart, “so you see what happens when authorities ask questions. They are forced to answer questions.”

German sports politician Mayer says he advised WADA leadership around Banka to answer questions from the media, such as ARD, on camera in Paris to “present WADA’s professional position. And I personally regret that this suggestion was not well received at all and was immediately rejected.”