A victory for WADA. The final report of the independent prosecutor, responsible for the investigation into the case of the 23 Chinese swimmers doped by contamination, proves him right. "The information in the file shows that WADA carried out its work autonomously, independently and professionally, and that there is no evidence to the contrary.", assures the Swiss Eric Cottier, quoted in a press release from WADA, Thursday, September 12. Anything but a scoop, the former prosecutor having arrived at the same analysis in his interim report, published at the beginning of July. The final document only insists on the need to strengthen WADA's administrative procedures. It recommends in particular improving communication with national anti-doping organizations and athletes in the event of an infraction, but also exploring how the ADAMS system could be optimized to alert on delays in the analysis process or results management. A working group has been created to work on these recommendations. It will submit its ideas at the end of the year. For WADA President Witold Banka, the case of the 23 Chinese swimmers raises the question of how to deal with cases of presumed contamination. The Pole suggests that it will be up to the agency to take up the challenge of "distinguish between cases of real contamination and cheaters who have sufficient resources to manufacture a defense based on contamination".
