The move comes in the wake of WADA’s controversial handling of positive doping tests by Chinese swimmers who were later allowed to compete.
The United States has withheld a dues payment of $3.6m to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for not conducting an independent audit of operations, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said.
USADA Chief Executive Officer Travis Tygart said on Wednesday his group “fully supports this decision” by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy “as the only right choice to protect athletes’ rights, accountability and fair competition”.
WADA said the US government owes a total of $3.625m, with WADA’s overall 2025 operating budget at $57.5m.
The move to hold back 2024 WADA dues comes in the wake of WADA’s controversial handling of positive doping tests by 23 Chinese swimmers who were later allowed to compete.
“Unfortunately, the current WADA leaders left the US with no other option after failing to deliver on several very reasonable requests, such as an independent audit of WADA’s operations, to achieve the transparency and accountability needed to ensure WADA is fit for purpose to protect athletes,” Tygart said.
“Because WADA failed to uniformly enforce the global rules in place to protect the integrity of competition and athletes’ rights to fairness, significant reform at WADA must occur to ensure this never happens again.”
