On Chinese doping case,ギュレル lawmakers demand action, answers from Olympic and law-enforcement leaders

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

May 23, 2024 at 11:10 JST

• Share
• Tweet list

• Print

Poland's Sports Minister Witold Banka speaks during an interview March 18, 2019, in Warsaw, Poland. (AP Photo)

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators sent a letter Wednesday to the leader of the World Anti-Doping Agency asking for answers about the case in which 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite positive tests for a banned drug.

That letter came a day after a bipartisan group from the House sent a similar request to IOC President Thomas Bach and a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking for a briefing on federal investigators’ knowledge of the case.

“It is not just this one incident that causes concern for many athletes, anti-doping agencies, and fans across the world, but it is the fact that WADA has long shown questionable ethical behavior,” said the letter sent from Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Last month, German broadcaster ARD and the New York Times reported that Chinese authorities determined the swimmers who had tested positive for a banned heart medication would not be punished because they had accidentally ingested the banned heart medication found in a hotel kitchen.

The story triggered a harsh backlash from WADA critics who said the agency did not follow its own rules when it decided to accept China’s explanation for the positives instead of further pursuing the case. WADA has argued it handled the case appropriately and that, given the circumstances, it would have had virtually no chance of winning the case on appeal.

Three of the swimmers who were cleared won gold medals less than a year later in Tokyo.

“This scandal raises serious legal, ethical, and competitive concerns and may constitute a broader state-sponsored strategy by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to unfairly compete at the Olympic Games,” Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., wrote to Wray and Garland.

Moolenaar is chair and Krishnamoorthi is ranking member on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

They and the senators also focused on reporting by The Associated Press that pointed out China had donated nearly $2 million above its required annual dues to WADA programs in the two years before this case erupted. The lawmakers questioned whether WADA’s sponsorship deal with a Chinese-based sports products company was a conflict of interest.

“The global anti-doping system — a bedrock of the international sports community — is built upon trust and accountability,” the senators wrote in their letter to WADA President Witold Banka. “When WADA loses the international community’s trust, it can no longer effectively do its job.”

WADA appointed a Swiss prosecutor to conduct an investigation into the case and the agency’s handling of it. Critics have said the terms of that investigation aren’t broad enough and have asked for a wider probe, along with full disclosure of notes involved in the case file.

“While the recent appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate these claims is a step in the right direction, that appointment is not enough — real accountability from an independent auditor is imperative,” the senators wrote.

• ·劇場アニメ「ベルばら」ルイ16世役は落合福嗣、銀河万丈・田中真弓も出演（コメントあり）
• ·元フライ級王者・比嘉大吾が引退へ「やりきった感が強い。悔いなし」…武居に僅差判定で敗れる
• ·小橋建太さん、７年４か月ぶり公の場登場の高山善廣と熱い握手…鈴木みのると柴田勝頼には熱過ぎる逆水平チョップ
• ·初招集の日本代表ＤＦ望月ヘンリー海輝　長友佑都＆長谷部コーチに「メンタルが弱い」と告白した理由
• ·長岡柚奈、森口澄士組、ＳＰ６０・３２点で５位「目標の６０点台を超えられた」自己ベスト大幅更新で成長示す
• ·「天心くん、頑張って下さい。応援してます」ＷＢＯ王座防衛の武居由樹、リング上で同階級の那須川天心に異例エール
• ·【２ラウンド試合経過】尚弥ードヘニー戦
• ·佐藤かよ、激変した３５歳の姿に仰天「美しい」「ツヤツヤですね」トランスジェンダー公表
• ·田中梓沙、西山真瑚組　肋骨負傷乗り越え出場「達成感」初出場のＮＨＫ杯ＲＤ１０位
• ·河村勇輝「簡単に行くことはない」今季下部Ｇリーグ、来季ツーウェー、３年後にＮＢＡ本契約目指す
• ·【巨人】山崎伊織が７回途中で降板　２番手・高梨をピンチで投入も２点目失う
• ·志田未来、メガネ着用のオフな姿で餃子を頬張る様子に「自然体ですね」「可愛すぎる」と反響
• ·恋を知らない人妻と秘密の多い極道のインモラルラブ「極と蕾」1巻
• ·【巨人】阿部采配も９月モード！　２点ビハインドの８回「勝利の方程式」投入に込めた無言のメッセージ
• ·柴田勝頼、ＴＡＫＡＹＡＭＡＮＩＡメインで鈴木みのる撃破　日本マット復帰白星に絶叫「ありがとう！」
• ·篠田麻里子、一般男性との交際を公表「私や娘のことを大事にしてくれる、尊敬できる方」離婚報告から１年半「最近お付き合い」