Will American athletes be deprived of the Tokyo Games? Will they suffer the consequences of their government's position on the issue of doping? Hard to believe. And yet, the risk exists. It has even been brandished for a few hours by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
At issue is the threat from the American authorities to stop paying their share of the WADA budget until the Montreal-based agency has adopted a solid reform plan. The United States has never held back its criticism of WADA's policy. But their mistrust has gone up a notch this year, with the threat of withdrawing their marbles.
As a reminder, the Americans are the first contributors to WADA, after the IOC, with a contribution of 2,7 million dollars for the year 2020. For the current financial year, the agency's budget is amounted to $37,4 million.
WADA President Witold Banka explained this to the agency Reuters : " We have been approached by a number of governments who say they are shocked by the threats from the United States government, supported in its approach by the American anti-doping agency (USADA). These governments are asking us to consider adopting an amendment to our compliance code, which would provide that a country that ceases to pay its share of our budget would see its national anti-doping agency declared non-compliant. This could have very serious consequences for the country's athletes, including their participation in major events on the international calendar. »
Clearly, WADA could decide to fail USADA, and through a domino effect close the door to the Games for athletes, if the American government carried out its threat and no longer paid its share of the budget.
Realistic? At this stage of the standoff, it is difficult to answer. The question will be debated at the next meeting of the WADA Executive Committee, on September 14 and 15, 2020. Only debated, no doubt, but certainly not decided. The adoption of an amendment to its compliance code does not happen without a long process at WADA. In particular, it must be approved by the Compliance Review Committee.
In the meantime, the ball is now in the American court. Will the United States agree to take a step back? The words of the director of USAD, the very critical Travis Tygart, already suggest the opposite. “ Threatening a country's athletes because of WADA's governance failure is very disappointing, he told Reuters. WADA is becoming very threatening, but the illegal threat they pose to American athletes is shameful. »
Still according to Travis Tygart, the only consequence of the United States not paying its share of the WADA budget would be their inability to sit on the agency's committees. The rest, starting with a ban on American athletes from participating in international competitions, would be purely illegal. The head of USADA makes no secret of it: in such a scenario, the American authorities would not hold back from deploying the entire legal apparatus to assert their rights.
