World Anti-Doping Agency Drops Defamation Lawsuit Against USADA
The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped its defamation lawsuit against the United States Anti-Doping Agency stemming from WADA’s handling of positives tests of Chinese swimmers in 2021.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that WADA dropped the suit it had filed in Swiss court against USADA and its director, Travis Tygart. Tygart had criticized WADA’s handling of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics but were exonerated by WADA, which determined it a matter of environmental contamination.
WADA also dropped an ethics case against Dr. Rahul Gupta, who represented the United States on WADA’s executive board.
News of the actions was first reported by Honest Sport on Wednesday.
WADA said the move was “in the interest of moving on and focusing our efforts on strengthening the global antidoping system.”
“The dismissal of the unauthorized and baseless lawsuit against USADA and the ethics complaint against the White House is complete vindication for us both,” the USADA said in a statement to The Times. “… WADA’s actions were nothing more than retaliatory, wasteful and abusive attempts to suppress the truth and the voice of those seeking answers to why WADA allowed China to blatantly disregard the rules for 23 elite swimmers who tested positive.”
Among the events proceeding WADA’s action was the announcement on Jan. 8 that the White House Office of National Drug Policy (ONDCP) was withholding its 2024 dues payment to WADA of $3.6 million. The U.S. is one of the biggest funders of WADA.
“Because WADA failed to uniformly enforce the global rules in place to protect the integrity of competition and athletes’ rights to fairness, significant reform at WADA must occur to ensure this never happens again,” Tygart said in a Jan. 8 statement, noting that dues paid to WADA are voluntary. Gupta was the director of ONDCP during the administration of President Joe Biden.
The suit’s dismissal brings a détente in the saber-rattling between two of the world’s foremost anti-doping authorities. The precipitating event was the positive tests of 23 Chinese swimmers during a training camp in early 2021. WADA was informed of those tests by the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency just before the Tokyo Olympics and elected not to overturn CHINADA’s determination that they were caused by environmental contamination, a conclusion that was not wholly supported by the facts of the case. Several of the athletes involved went on to win medals at the Tokyo Olympics that year.
Reporting in 2024 brought the positive tests to light, and the USADA was one of the primary governing entities criticizing WADA for its judgement of the results and the suppression of the information. Tygart was unsparing in his assessment that WADA chose to “cherry pick” an ostensibly independent prosecutor to review the handling of the case, accusing the organization’s leadership of, “trying to pull the wool over our eyes.” A federal inquiry into the handling of the doping positives by WADA led the International Olympic Committee to apply pressure not to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to the Salt Lake City in the United States and included a termination clause over the FBI’s investigation.
Read more on the Chinese doping controversy:
- American Swimmers Told of Chinese Doping Violations at Tokyo Olympics
- 23 Chinese Swimmers Cleared To Compete At Tokyo Olympics Where Some Won Gold Despite Positive Drug Tests: Reports
- WADA Releases Statement on Chinese Doping Positives; Threatens Legal Action
- Column: Lack of Transparency in Chinese Doping Tests a Glaring Failure of Anti-Doping Authorities
- ‘What happened to strict liability?’ Adam Peaty Hits Back at WADA over Chinese Doping
- WADA Appoints Independent Prosecutor to Review Handling of China Doping
- Katie Ledecky on Anti-Doping System: Faith at ‘All-Time Low’ (Video)
- Qin Haiyang, Wang Shun, Yang Junxuan Tested Positive for Clenbuterol Prior to 2021 Positives
- ‘Extremely Frustrating’ and ‘Disappointing:’ Lilly King, Other Americans Share Displeasure at Chinese Doping Controversies (VIDEO)
- Michael Phelps, Allison Schmitt Testify Before Congressional Subcommittee on Anti-Doping Measures, WADA
- WADA-Appointed Independent Prosecutor Exonerates WADA in Chinese Doping Case
- Chinese Doping Controversy Hovering Over Paris Games
- Final Report on Chinese Doping Cases Casts Blame on CHINADA But Clears WADA Again