Olympics-WADA chief confident US will pay up and return to executive committee

By Karolos Grohmann

MILAN, Feb 5 (Reuters) – World Anti-Doping Agency chief Witold Banka said on Thursday he was optimistic the United States would soon pay its financial contributions to the global anti-doping body and return to the fold, with the country demanding reforms before doing so.

In January 2025 the U.S. withheld the 2024 dues to WADA, calling for reforms to the global sport watchdog, following a protracted spat between the U.S. and WADA over the handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers.

The swimmers were found to have failed drug tests weeks before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but escaped punishment after WADA accepted Chinese authorities’ explanation that they were exposed to the banned substance trimetazidine through contamination from spice containers in the kitchen of a hotel where they were staying.

An investigator selected by the global anti-doping agency at the time found that WADA did not mishandle the case involving the Chinese swimmers.

“We are working normally (with the United States). There are some discrepancies and difficulties with some other stakeholders in the U.S. but we are quite optimistic about the future,” Banka told a press conference.

He said WADA was a transparent organisation with more audits than most, in case there were concerns about how funds were used.

“Every year when it comes to transferring the money from the U.S. there are always some technical requirements,” Banka said.

“We have our independent internal auditor, we have an external company auditing our finances, we have an independent auditor auditing our intelligence department … I think I don’t know any other international organisation with such strong auditing mechanisms.”

Ties between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have been strained since the Chinese athletes’ case, and the U.S. has not paid WADA since, with the amount initially owed in 2025 at $3.625 million. But in February 2025 WADA dropped its lawsuit against USADA that had been filed following their bitter war of words.

Banka said there was nothing in the way now for the U.S. to pay its dues and return to the WADA executive committee.

“So I think there are no obstacles for our friends from the U.S. to fulfill their duties and pay their contribution. I remain optimistic when it comes to engagement of our friends from the U.S. and U.S. authorities,” Banka said.

“I hope that very soon they are going to pay their contribution and come back to the executive committee as a member and representative for both Americas.”

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)