Author: Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States has withheld its 2024 World Anti-Doping Agency dues, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told Reuters on Wednesday, calling for reforms to the global sports watchdog.
The move comes amid a long-running dispute between the United States and WADA over the handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who were found to have failed doping tests weeks before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but were allowed to compete.
The ONDCP said it “has not yet decided whether to pay the membership fee to WADA,” which was due by Dec. 31.
“ONDCP is evaluating all of our options as we continue to push WADA to adopt common-sense reforms to restore confidence in the world’s anti-doping system and give athletes the full confidence they deserve,” director Rahul Gupta said in a statement.
“WADA must take concrete steps to restore confidence in the world anti-doping system and give athletes the full confidence they deserve.”
Gupta began his term as a member of WADA’s 16-member Executive Board as the US representative of the public body in April 2023, and his term was not due to expire until April 2026.
WADA did not directly comment on ONDCP’s statement and did not immediately respond to ONDCP’s position that it was undecided about whether or not to pay its bill.
WADA said the unpaid contributions totaled $3.625 million.
It has set its operating budget for 2025 at $57.5 million, a WADA spokesman said, adding that any executive board member representing a country that fails to pay its annual contribution automatically loses its seat.
An investigator selected by the world anti-doping agency said in July that WADA had not mishandled the case involving the Chinese swimmers and repeated those findings in September.
The US Anti-Doping Agency celebrated the ONDCP’s stance, calling it “the only right choice”.
“Current WADA leaders have left the US with no other option after failing to meet several very reasonable demands, such as an independent audit of WADA’s operations, to achieve the transparency and accountability needed to ensure that WADA is fit for purpose athletes,” USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement.
