By Victor Kanayo
There are indications that United States may lose hosting both the 2028 Summer and 2034 Winter Olympics due to internal anti-doping regulations within the country.
A former senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, Dick Pound, who spoke to Reuters said American law enforcement over reached its investigation of Chinese swimmers.
The swimmers were cleared by a Chinese investigation which said they were inadvertently exposed to the drug through contamination and allowed to compete at the Tokyo Games.
Two independent investigations one by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier looking into WADA’s handling of the case, and the other, an audit by World Aquatics reached similar conclusions that there was no mismanagement or cover-up.
In line with IOC operations, any country wanting to compete in or stage an international sporting event must be compliant with the anti-doping code.
Pound, the Canadian lawyer who led the set up of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), believes the Rodchenkov Act the U.S. is using to investigate the positive tests of 23 Chinese swimmers could disqualify it as an Olympic host.
The Rodchenkov Act legislation passed in 2020 extends U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction to any international sporting competitions that involve American athletes or have financial connections to the United States.
WADA had no comment when asked about taking the U.S. to the non-compliant review committee but other anti-doping officials who did not want to be named confirmed the idea is being discussed.
WADA believes the Rodchenkov Act is a national legislation not in harmony with the anti-doing code that allows U.S. authorities to relitigate cases already decided.
Reuters reports that such a move would further inflame tensions between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) which has accused the global body of a cover-up and called on the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate how the Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) weeks before the Tokyo Olympics.
