US drug czar blasts WADA, saying proposed changes could undermine clean sport at Olympics

The U.S. drug czar portrayed a menu of changes to anti-doping protocols being proposed by a World Anti-Doping Agency panel as moves that would “undermine the trustworthiness of the performances of competitors” at future Olympics.

Sara Carter, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, sent an open letter Monday to WADA and its stakeholders. It comes a day before an “extraordinary meeting” of the WADA executive committee at which it will discuss recommendations from a “working group” put together in the wake of a doping case involving Chinese swimmers.

Carter derided what she said was the “unjustifiable exclusion” of U.S. authorities from the meeting. WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said the U.S. wasn’t invited due to its government’s refusal to pay its WADA dues, which is part of a bigger feud between the U.S. and the global anti-doping regulator stemming from the China doping saga and a long-running scandal involving Russia.

“The working group’s objective and recommendations are designed to strengthen the independence and credibility of the anti-doping process, including at major events,” Fitzgerald said.

Among the group’s recommendations would be to transfer some testing responsibilities to an independent agency and away from the hands of a host-country anti-doping agency. For the LA Olympics in two years, that could weaken the role of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which has fought WADA hard over its handling of the Russian and Chinese affairs.

“The robust and vigorous participation of NADOs in the anti-doping ecosystem is of particular importance to the United States as we strive to ensure the cleanest Olympic and Paralympic Games ever,” Carter wrote.

Fitzgerald said Tuesday’s meeting is only to discuss the recommendations and no action is planned.

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