USADA Fires Back: By Calling Chinese Inquiry ‘Independent’ WADA Is Trying To Pull The Wool Over Our Eyes
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has accused the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of failing to make it’s investigation into the go-free 23 Chinese doping positive in swimming truly independent.
In an escalation of the battle between anti-doping giants, USADA fired out an instant response to WADA’s decision to launch an investigation into the decision by Chinada and the global clean-sport gatekeeper to let the Chinese swimmers escape inquiry and penalty after 23 of them returned 28 positive tests at a competition on January 1-3 half a year before they Tokyo Olympic Games. The statement rejects the notion that Eric Cottier, a Swiss prosecutor is independent:
“By calling this an “independent” investigation, the WADA leadership is trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Instead of WADA’s hand-picked lawyer with a limited and self-serving scope of review, the world’s athletes deserve a truly independent review commission with a wide scope of review that is constituted with an independent athlete representative and impartial respected jurists with anti-doping experience appointed by government consensus.
A truly independent investigation also requires investigation of facts on the ground in China related to this case to include interviews of hotel staff, athletes, coaches, etc. (not just a compliance audit of CHINADA, which should have been done in 2021), immunity for whistleblowers to include WADA and CHINADA employees, full access to all internal emails from WADA and CHINADA, and raw data from the laboratory in China. All findings, and the documents upon which those findings are based, must also be published.
USADA – photo: The China Files from ARD – SOS Analysis – images courtesy of ARD, stills from the documentary of the New China Crisis In Sport
The head of the investigation chosen by WADA is 65-year-old Eric Cottier, who quit his post as prosecutor general of the Vaud Canton in Switzerland at the end of 2022, having announced his decision in June that year. At the heart of Vaud is Lausanne, home of the IOC and World Aquatics, among many other international federations.
Cottier held numerous positions in the Vaud judicial area for some 40 years. After obtaining his law degree in 1979, he was first a clerk, then substitute for Attorney General Jean-Marc Schwenter, his predecessor, from 1984 to 1991. He then presided over a district court, then moved to the Cantonal Court.
After being appointed Swiss Attorney General, on September 1, 2005 at the age of 46, he led the reorganization of the Public Prosecutor’s Office towards a new structure “capable of responding to the new unified criminal procedure in Switzerland”.
His work in an Agatha Christie-style killing made the news far beyond Switzerland, the Irish Examiner reporting: “The sordid family drama in the posh lakeside town of Vevey reads like an Agatha Christie mystery and has gripped sedate western Switzerland.”
Among his high-profile trials was the the assassination of Marie by Claude D., Ségalat.
Cottier aside, the Vaud judicial system is familiar with WADA, doping and corruption in the Olympic realm. In this from 2020 ….
… we noted a connection with WADA‘s “independence” and “integrity” framework, in the context of the regulator’s concerns over the Rodchenkov Act:
WADA recently published the ‘conclusions and potential improvements’ that resulted from the third annual audit of the Agency’s independent Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department, conducted between August and October this year.
WADA’s Director of Intelligence and Investigations, Gunter Younger, noted the role of an audit of the “independent branch within WADA” in adhering to “best practices in terms of transparency, but most importantly, to showcase the professionalism and integrity of our Department to maintain the confidence of our stakeholders, athletes and potential whistleblowers worldwide”.
The Independent Supervisor [Jacques Antenen, currently Commander of the Vaud Cantonal Police in Switzerland and a former Investigating Judge of the Canton of Vaud and Special Federal Prosecutor of the Swiss Confederation] rated the I&I unit and its quality of work as “exceptional”. Said Younger: “This is entirely thanks to the calibre and commitment of our now 14-member investigations team that works tirelessly to bring cheats to justice and to defend the integrity of sport on a daily basis.”.
The USADA Response To WADA’s Go-Free 23 “Self-Serving Appointment Of An “Independent” Prosecutor – In Full
Colorado Springs, Colo. (April 25, 2024) – “WADA’s latest statement exemplifies the problem with the current system. On its face, it sends the message that this is just a circle the wagons exercise to protect the system. It sends the message that the global regulator does not follow its own rules and then it gets to cherry pick an attorney from its own backyard without any independent athlete input or participation.
The announcement also scares off whistleblowers from coming forward by threatening them. We know whistleblowers already came to WADA, and with this threat, WADA is jeopardizing any real opportunity to get to the truth.
By calling this an ‘independent’ investigation, the WADA leadership is trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Instead of WADA’s hand-picked lawyer with a limited and self-serving scope of review, the world’s athletes deserve a truly independent review commission with a wide scope of review that is constituted with an independent athlete representative and impartial respected jurists with anti-doping experience appointed by government consensus.
A truly independent investigation also requires investigation of facts on the ground in China related to this case to include interviews of hotel staff, athletes, coaches, etc. (not just a compliance audit of CHINADA, which should have been done in 2021), immunity for whistleblowers to include WADA and CHINADA employees, full access to all internal emails from WADA and CHINADA, and raw data from the laboratory in China. All findings, and the documents upon which those findings are based, must also be published.
Anti-doping organizations around the world are regularly announcing no fault cases because the rules require it. Even in situations where USADA does not agree with the rules, we uphold them because that ensures every athlete worldwide is held to the same standard. And yet, WADA leadership is undermining that global agreement by giving free passes at its own discretion.”
The New China Crisis As ‘Independent’ Investigation Called & Rejected
ARD’s “Doping Top Secret – The China Files” – Parts 1-4 – Watch Why WADA U-Turn Is Urgent
SOS Analysis
The ARD China Files: Part 1 – SOS Analysis: Spies, Spice & Mass Contamination
The ARD China Files: Part 2 – SOS Analysis: On The Trail Of An Existential Precedent?
The ARD China Files: Part 3 – SOS Analysis: Lab Trials For TMZ & Testing Timeframes
SOS Related Coverage
Sport Integrity Australia Backs USADA Call For WADA Review Of China’s Go-Free 23 Positives
USADA Calls For Independent Prosecutor & Overhaul of WADA In New China Crisis
WADA In Staunch Defence Of Decision Not To Challenge 28 Positives In 23 Chinese Swimmers
Sunday Essay: Caution: Olympic Hotel Contamination May Contain Trimetazidine? We’d Be Nuts To Think So
New China Crisis As ARD Reveals That 23 Swimmers, Zhang, Wang & Qin On The List, Tested Positive For Sun’s 1st-Offence Drug