US suspends finding to World Anti-Doping Agency to ‘protect’ sports

The United States has suspended a $3.6 million payment to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for the 2024 period. This decision follows WADA's negligent response to requests from Washington, D.C., as well as other countries and organizations, to ensure fair play in sports.

In a statement, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) expressed its full support for the government's decision, calling it "the only right choice" and emphasizing that WADA must fulfill its obligations to protect the integrity of sports.

"Today, it was announced that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has withheld its 2024 dues payment of $3.6M from the World Anti-Doping Agency. USADA fully supports this decision by the White House ONDCP as the only right choice to protect athletes’ rights, accountability and fair competition," said Travis T. Tygart, USADA's executive director.

WADA has come under intense criticism from both authorities and athletes, including Michael Phelps, for its handling of the the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) and won six medals, including three gold, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"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 added.

US off the board of directors

Upon learning of the sanction, WADA responded by announcing the exclusion of the United States from its board of directors, as reported by CNN, after failing to receive the agreed contribution to its 2024 budget.