Wada faces crisis after US withholds its funding

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is facing a crisis after the US government defaulted on a $3.6m contribution to the global sport watchdog's annual budget.

- Rob Draper

Wada said the US had missed the 31 December 2024 deadline for payment and retaliated by saying representatives from the US would now be ineligible to sit on its foundation board or executive committee.

The funding breakdown comes after a year of sniping between Wada and the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), which started when it was revealed last year that Wada had cleared 23 Chinese swimmers to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, even though they had tested positive for banned heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ). Wada accepted the reasoning that a kitchen at a team hotel could have contaminated all 23 samples.

Travis Tygart, the chief executive of Usada, said: "Usada fully supports this decision as the only right choice to protect athletes' rights and fair competition. Unfortunately, Wada left the US with no other option after failing to deliver on several very reasonable requests to achieve the transparency and accountability needed to ensure Wada is fit for purpose.

"Since the exposure of Wada's failed handling of the 23 Chinese swimmers' positive tests that gave China and its athletes special treatment, many from around the world have sought answers, transparency and accountability from Wada. Significant reform at Wada must occur to ensure this never happens again."