MONTREAL (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it was “disappointed” to learn of the opening of a criminal investigation in the United States into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who were allowed to continue competing despite testing positive for a banned substance in 2021.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that U.S. investigators have launched an investigation into the matter and ordered a senior official from the international swimming federation to testify as a witness.
It could be the most high-profile use yet of a U.S. federal law passed in 2020 that allows investigations into suspected doping conspiracy allegations even if they occurred outside the United States.
“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is disappointed to learn that the U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating the contamination of 23 swimmers in China in 2021,” WADA said in a statement. “At this time, WADA has not received any contact or inquiries from U.S. law enforcement.”
On May 21, a U.S. House committee on China asked the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate the case under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2020, named after a whistleblower who exposed Russian state-sponsored doping.
The AMA said the investigation reports “validate the concerns widely expressed by the international community” about the Rodchenkov Act.
WADA has already criticized the law, warning of the risk of overreaching “extraterritorial” jurisdiction the law would give to U.S. federal agencies. The International Olympic Committee has also expressed concerns.
The 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned heart drug in January 2021 but were allowed to continue competing. Some of them won medals at the Tokyo Olympics later that year. Eleven of them are part of the Chinese swimming team heading to the Paris Olympics.
Chinese anti-doping authorities blamed the positive tests on food contamination, saying traces of the substance were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the team was staying.
The AMA has accepted this theory and has repeatedly defended its handling of the case, which was only made public this year through reporting by The New York Times and German television network ARD.
“WADA has diligently reviewed the Chinese swimmer’s case, consulted with scientific and legal experts, and ultimately determined that it was unable to challenge the contamination scenario, such that an appeal was not warranted,” the agency said in the statement. “Guided by science and expert consultation, we stand by this good-faith decision in the face of the incomplete and misleading reporting on which this investigation appears to be based.”
The international swimming federation, World Aquatics, confirmed to the AP on Thursday that its executive director, Brent Nowicki, had been subpoenaed to testify as part of the U.S. investigation.
“He is working to schedule a meeting with the government, which will likely avoid the need for grand jury testimony,” World Aquatics said in a statement.
Asked about the reports, the FBI said it “neither confirms nor denies the existence of an investigation,” in line with standard practice.
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