Wholesale Reform Needed to Regain Trust in the Global Anti-Doping System
30 July 2024: Today’s report by the New York Times alleging that World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Aquatics covered up more Chinese positive doping tests is another devastating blow to the credibility to both organizations and to clean sport.
Athlete confidence was at an all-time low following April 2024 reports by the New York Times and German TV ARD that 23 Chinese swimming athletes who tested positive in 2021 for the banned substance Trimetazidine (TMZ) were never notified or provisionally suspended. With this new information, athletes and advocates have resigned to the fact the guardians of the World Anti-Doping Code are no longer fit for purpose.
Reports indicate that Chinese athletes were denied the full due process, raising the question of whether these are cases of state-organized doping victimizing the athletes, or a system of backroom deals designed to protect both cheating athletes and a powerful nation.
Conflicts of interest have undermined WADA’s effectiveness and, over the last several years, have repeatedly exposed anti-doping decisions based on politics, not principle. WADA should neither be controlled nor governed by anyone who has a stake in the economics of sports competition.
FairSport is an independent foundation dedicated to eradicating cheating in sport. We support confidential sources who speak up to unmask doping, and we educate the global public on the value of honesty and integrity in sport.
Global Athlete is an international athlete-led movement guiding positive change in world sport to collectively address the balance of power between athletes and administrators. We aim to help athletes gain a more representative voice in world sport, recognising that the neglect and suppression of the athlete voice has gone on for too long.