US withholds $3.6m payment to WADA

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is facing a crisis after the US government refused to make a $3.6 million contribution to the global watchdog's annual budget amid an ongoing row over a doping scandal involving Chinese swimmers.

WADA said on Wednesday the US had missed the December 31, 2024 deadline for payment and as a result US representatives would be barred from the global anti-doping watchdog's foundation board or executive committee.

The chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, said his organisation "fully supports this decision" by the US government "as the only right choice to protect athletes' rights, accountability and fair competition."

The Americans' move comes after a series of rows between WADA and USADA sparked when it was revealed last year the global body had cleared 23 Chinese swimmers to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, despite testing positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine. Tygart was furious WADA accepted the Chinese anti-doping agency's argument that all of the swimmers could have been contaminated by a kitchen at the team hotel.

The funding decision indicates however a more formal breakdown in relations between WADA and the nation that will host the men's football World Cup in 2026 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Since the exposure of WADA's failed handling of the 23 Chinese swimmers' positive tests that gave China and its athletes special treatment under the rules, many stakeholders from around the world, including athletes, governments, and national anti-doping agencies, have sought answers, transparency, and accountability from WADA leadership," Tygart said.

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