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Last week, the International Olympic Committee made a stunning request that the state of Utah agreed to at the last minute: Respect the “supreme authority” of the World Anti-Doping Agency—or Salt Lake City could lose the Games.
On Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers struck back.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the “Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act,” which would allow the U.S. to withhold its roughly $3.7 million annual payments to WADA—the largest of any one country—until reforms are made.
After reports emerged this spring that WADA permitted dozens of Chinese swimmers to compete despite positive drug tests, Olympic gold medal swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt testified before Congress last month about what Phelps said were “deeply rooted, systemic problems.”
The New York Times also reported Tuesday that another two athletes tested positive in 2022 but were allowed to continue swimming. Many of the Chinese athletes who tested positive are medal contenders at the Paris Olympics.
The DOJ and FBI launched an investigation into the scandal, a power given to them by the Rodchenkov Act that allows U.S. officials to criminally prosecute international doping cases, which is the likely culprit of the Utah clause. The International Olympic Committee is allowed to rescind Utah’s bid if “the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping Code is hindered or undermined.”
Who’s Involved?
Rep. John Moolenaar (R., Mich.), a co-sponsor of the bill, said, “This brazen attempt by the IOC and WADA to force Utah to interfere in an investigation would win the gold medal in blackmail.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, has sponsored a bill against WADA before. She introduced one with nearly an identical name to the Senate in February 2022 that was more targeted at Russian instances of doping. “Our message is simple, we will not be silenced for trying to promote fair play,” she said Tuesday.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.) are also co-sponsoring the bill.
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