The Biden administration is holding up the annual U.S. payment to the World Anti-Doping Agency to press the organization to make changes in the wake of revelations that it chose not to discipline elite Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned drug, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The White House has told the agency that it needed to have more accountability and transparency and that it must submit to a wide-ranging outside audit of its operations, which have come under intense scrutiny amid revelations that it took no action against China in a number of cases of suspected doping.
Led by Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the administration is also pushing for limits on the ability of the agency, known as WADA, to use American taxpayer dollars to sue U.S. institutions, like American antidoping authorities who were the target of a defamation lawsuit by WADA.
WADA, which has long tried to avoid outside oversight, is the global body responsible for policing the use of banned, performance-enhancing drugs at events like the Olympics.
WADA has denied mishandling the positive tests and has cast the criticism from the United States as politically motivated. A spokesman for the organization said on Monday that “no provision exists within WADA’s governance model whereby a government may unilaterally withhold its contribution based on its own set of conditions.”
Antidoping officials fear that if the current White House fails to send the money before President-elect Donald J. Trump assumes office in January, it could have deeper ramifications for WADA and the money may never be sent. Mr. Trump’s first administration took an even harder line against WADA and China than the Biden administration has.
The fight over the money and the demand that WADA allow an outsider to examine its operations are the latest front to emerge between the United States and the World Anti-Doping Agency over the positive tests. Congress has demanded answers from the organization and threatened future funding, while the Justice Department and the F.B.I. have opened a criminal investigation into how the tests were handled.
The tension stems from revelations in April by The New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD that Chinese antidoping authorities and WADA kept secret their decision in 2021 not to discipline nearly a dozen elite Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned prescription heart medication that makes it easier to train more strenuously. Many of the swimmers went on to win medals at the 2021 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
The disclosure focused intense new scrutiny on WADA, which is supposed to serve as the last line of defense in the fight against doping. Since then, the organization has been battered by stories exposing other failures. WADA’s leadership has responded by largely denying that the agency did anything wrong, claiming that it has become the victim of politicization in the antidoping battle.
The amount of money the United States is set to pay WADA for 2024 accounts for a significant portion of the organization’s funding. The United States is committed to making a $3.6 million contribution, which is then matched by the International Olympic Committee and ultimately accounts for about 16 percent of the organization’s roughly $46 million budget.
The Biden administration made its 2023 payment for $3.4 million payment in August of last year. The payment for this year was expected to be paid around the same time, but so far Dr. Gupta has yet to sign off on having the money sent.
Both sides say they hope the standoff is resolved by Dec. 5, when WADA’s foundation board — its highest decision-making body, which is made up of national government officials and representatives of the global sports movement — meets in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Gupta is expected to attend the meeting.
Dr. Gupta, who is often referred to as the national drug czar and is a member of WADA’s executive board, confirmed in a telephone interview that the United States had not yet made its payment to the organization.
He said that in the wake of the allegations about WADA’s handling of the Chinese positive tests and other matters, the United States needed to use “every tool that’s in the toolbox” to push the agency for more transparency to restore the confidence of athletes, particularly Americans who believe they were forced to compete on an unlevel playing field against the Chinese.
“That’s what the American people expect us to do, and that’s exactly what we’re doing right now, and that’s to make sure we create a level playing field for American athletes and those all across the globe,” Dr. Gupta said.
The post Biden White House Holds Up U.S. Contribution to Anti-Doping Agency appeared first on New York Times.
