Did Chinese Swimmers Get a Break from Doping Enforcement?

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;48;14
Mark Conrad
Hello and welcome to the Sports Business Podcast with Prof. C, the podcast that explores the world of professional, collegiate, amateur, and Olympic sports. I'm Mark Conrad or Prof. C from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, where I serve as Professor of Law and Ethics and the Director of the Sports Business Initiative. About 30 years ago, in an effort to combat the use of performance enhancing drugs in international sports, the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, was created.

00;00;48;16 - 00;01;26;17
Mark Conrad
It has standardized rules for what kinds of substances are prohibited from use in international and Olympic sports for the great majority of international sports organizations. Funded by the International Olympic Committee and various national governments, WADA is mainly known for its World Anti-Doping Code that lists the banned substances and is updated each year. WADA has domestic national affiliates and the testing is done in certified labs before and after competitions.

00;01;26;19 - 00;01;56;07
Mark Conrad
The liability is strict - whether it was an accident or not, the fact that the substance is in the athlete is a determining factor. While athletes of every nation have been caught with banned substances, some governments have utilized ways to evade detection. A case in point is Russia during the Sochi Olympics, where a system of rampant cheating was detected and discovered well after the event.

00;01;56;09 - 00;02;27;14
Mark Conrad
As the Paris Olympics is upon us, The New York Times and the German television network ARD reported a major breach by Chinese swimmers. And what is particularly troubling is the reaction or lack of reaction by WADA, the very agency in charge of preventing doping. Here is what we know: nearly half of China's swimming team, 23 in all, tested positive for a banned substance

00;02;27;21 - 00;03;05;26
Mark Conrad
just months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but the athletes were still allowed to compete. Apparently, China's anti-doping agency, known as CHINADA, concluded that the swimmers ingested the performance enhancing prescription heart drug trimetazidine, known as TMZ, unwittingly and did not enforce sanctions. This is the same substance that resulted in a four-year ban against Russian skater Kamila Valieva after a lab discovered it in her system.

00;03;05;28 - 00;03;41;04
Mark Conrad
Shockingly, WADA declined to challenge the decision, allowing the alleged offenders to compete and collect up to half a dozen medals for China. Veteran U.S. swimmers and groups representing international athletes reacted critically. Michael Phelps, an icon of U.S. swimming, and others, accused WADA of sweeping the alleged Chinese positive test under the rug and demanded more transparency and castigated WADA for not even opening an investigation.

00;03;41;06 - 00;04;20;25
Mark Conrad
As one commentator stated: “WADA is not independent. WADA has sports leaders who have a direct interest in their decisions sitting on its Board; for example, the current vice president from China is a former member of the Chinese National Olympic Committee and is on the IOC. It's the epitome of the fox guarding the henhouse.” A so-called independent inquiry concluded that WADA's decision to close any investigation of the Chinese Anti-Doping agency did not suggest that WADA showed favoritism to China.

00;04;20;27 - 00;04;46;21
Mark Conrad
WADA’s head did not take to the public criticism kindly and released a statement claiming that most U.S. athletes are not part of the WADA system and therefore the U.S. Testing Agency undertests the number of U.S. athletes. He added that the IOC has expressed full confidence in WADA's actions, or should I say inactions. But that misses the point.

00;04;46;23 - 00;05;18;04
Mark Conrad
True, U.S. professional athletes and NCAA athletes are not part of the WADA system, but that has nothing to do with the claim at hand - that Chinese swimmers got a free pass after testing positive. While there are arguments to be made that the U.S. professional league testing standards are too relaxed, that does not excuse this situation. One report even said that some of the swimmers did not know of their positive tests.

00;05;18;06 - 00;05;52;09
Mark Conrad
If true, that's a violation of the rules. Also, Chinese authorities claimed that the substance was in the food the swimmers ate, but the German documentary reports that not all the swimmers were in the same hotel when the dinner took place. If that report is true, then the authorities are lying. Finally, there's an interesting legal component to all of this, and that is a unique U.S. law called the “Rochenkov Anti-Doping Act” which was passed in 2020.

00;05;52;11 - 00;06;28;01
Mark Conrad
and it gives U.S. authorities the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for doping schemes at international sports competitions involving American athletes. Admittedly, it is a law that gives broad jurisdiction to U.S. prosecutors, and it is no secret that international sports authorities are, to be sure, not fond of it. But the U.S. Justice Department is investigating. The situation is messy, but one thing is sure: Coming at the time of the present Olympic Games,

00;06;28;03 - 00;06;58;16
Mark Conrad
this does not instill confidence on the viceroys of WADA. Any thoughts? Send them to me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. Until next time, this is Prof. C for the Gabelli Sports Business Initiative.