On Friday, April 26, the China Anti-doping Agency (CHINADA) stated that it will actively cooperate with the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) in the coming compliance audit review and provide assistance where needed.
Notably, a total of 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for an "extremely low concentration" of trimetazidine (TMZ) at a national swimming event in 2021 having inadvertently been exposed to the substance through contamination.
Following a thorough review by the World Anti-doping Agency's Science Department and external legal counsel, it accepted CHINADA’s conclusion that "the athletes would be held to have no fault or negligence."
The World Anti-doping Agency has decided to dispatch a compliance audit team to China to evaluate the current state of its anti-doping program, as part of the Agency’s routine compliance monitoring program. This decision was made during its Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting on April 25, Thursday in Montreal, Canada.
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“CHINADA will actively cooperate with the coming audit by WADA, and provide assistance where needed,” the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) said in a statement.
In its statement, CHINADA said it “will work for the rights and interests of clean athletes and the integrity in sport”.
WADA has encountered criticism following media reports that the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a substance known to enhance performance, prior to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Despite this, they were not sanctioned after the World Anti-doping Agency accepted the argument put forth by the Chinese authorities that the case resulted from food contamination.
China visit is part of regular compliance monitoring program, as per WADA
WADA has announced that it had enlisted an independent prosecutor to scrutinize its handling of the case involving the Chinese swimmers. CHINADA hailed WADA’s request for an independent review as “a clear demonstration of fairness, openness and transparency.”
The head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, has characterized the situation as a “potential cover-up” and USADA branding WADA’s announcement of an independent investigation as “self-serving.”
Eric Cottier, the Swiss prosecutor tasked with reviewing the case, has been assigned to assess whether any bias was exhibited toward China or if there was “any undue interference or other impropriety” in handling the case.
The lawyer will also be asked to determine if the decision not to challenge or appeal against the verdict of CHINADA that the cases involved food contamination, was reasonable.
Additionally, the lawyer will evaluate whether the decision not to contest or appeal CHINDA’s verdict regarding food contamination was reasonable. The World Anti-doping Agency clarified that this visit is a part of its routine compliance monitoring.
