The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has vehemently refuted accusations of a cover-up during its investigation into 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ). WADA President Witold Banka asserted that the agency diligently followed its due process and investigated all leads.
Banka emphasized that WADA received no credible evidence of wrongdoing from any source. Consequently, the agency did not see grounds to initiate an investigation or challenge the Chinese anti-doping body’s (CHINADA) decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He explained that WADA lacked the means to disprove the contamination theory accepted by CHINADA and World Aquatics.
WADA’s general counsel, Ross Wenzel, estimated that any appeal to CAS would face an extremely low chance of success. Banka questioned the motives behind USADA head Travis Tygart’s criticism of WADA, suggesting they were politically driven and lacked evidentiary support.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled the published reports as “fake news,” citing the findings of its own anti-doping center. According to the Chinese investigation, the swimmers unknowingly ingested TMZ through contaminated food, and they were neither at fault nor negligent.
Despite these denials, Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the US National Drug Control Policy, called for an independent investigation into both the Chinese swim doping tests and WADA’s handling of the matter. He stressed the need for rigorous and unbiased probes to examine any potential wrongdoing.
