China's anti-doping agency joins IOC in urging US to follow rules

The China Anti-Doping Agency, or CHINADA, has called on all its global counterparts, relevant stakeholders, and organizations to jointly strengthen the solidarity, equity, and independence of world anti-doping efforts.

CHINADA made the call in a statement released on Thursday, right after the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, strongly urged the United States Anti-Doping Agency and US lawmakers to respect the authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, and to comply with unified global anti-doping rules at its 142nd Session in Paris on Wednesday.

Salt Lake City, in the US state of Utah, was awarded rights to host the 2034 Winter Olympics at the session, but the IOC also warned that the city could be stripped of the Games in line with a revised host-city contract, if the US authorities keep disrespecting WADA and refuse to follow global anti-doping rules.

"CHINADA welcomes the IOC's decision and hopes that all shareholders could unanimously support WADA's effort of building an independent, fair, consistent, and effective anti-doping administration worldwide," said the CHINADA statement published on its website.

During a news conference held at the Main Press Center in Paris, WADA president Witold Banka called on USADA to stop being isolated from global anti-doping regulations that are recognized, respected, and followed by the rest of the world, and urged the US authorities to bring US athletes under the same scrutiny overseen by WADA as is consistent with other countries' athletes.

The attempt by US legislation called the Rodchenkov Act to recklessly and unfairly extend the country's jurisdiction of anti-doping probes to other countries and regions, taking advantage of groundless, hyped media allegations of a "doping cover-up" regarding a proven contamination case involving Chinese athletes, poses a threat to the integrity and unity of the global anti-doping system, WADA said.

CHINADA called the "long-arm jurisdiction" of US authorities a potential infringement of the legal rights and security of the athletes involved.

"It will certainly undermine the unified global legal framework of anti-doping work, disrupt the effective world anti-doping orders jointly built by all shareholders and damage the global anti-doping administration that protects all clean athletes fairly and consistently," CHINADA said in the statement. "Hereby, we reiterate the importance of safeguarding the completeness and effectiveness of the global anti-doping system in an independent, fair, professional and open way. We sincerely hope to work tirelessly together with all shareholders to improve the stability, unity, and progress of the world anti-doping system."