Anti-doping agencies Wada, Usada clash over use of ‘undercover athletes’ to catch cheats

US argue in one case such assistance had provided intelligence to an investigation into a human and drug trafficking scheme

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Usada CEO Travis Tygart says letting drug cheats compete so they could act as undercover informants is “an effective way” to tackle bigger problems. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30pm, 8 Aug 2024Updated: 4:18pm, 8 Aug 2024

The global and United States anti-doping agencies are at odds over undercover tactics used by the American body to try to catch drug cheats, Reuters has learned.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said US agency Usada had broken the global code by letting several athletes it had caught between 2011 and 2014 violating drugs rules to go undercover and keep on competing without prosecution in exchange for information on other violators.

Usada said the tactic was necessary and allowed, and wanted to keep using it. Wada said it was against its code and that athletes caught breaking doping rules should not get to line up in races, potentially winning prize money and medals, without first being publicly prosecuted and sanctioned.

The two agencies were also embroiled in a dispute over the global system for policing doping in sport, sparked by the case of 23 Chinese swimmers that had cast a shadow over the Paris Olympics.

On Tuesday, meanwhile, China’s Anti-Doping Agency (Chinada) accused the US of “turning a blind eye to its long history of doping problems” after 200 metres runner Erriyon Knighton was cleared to compete at the Paris Games despite having previously turned in a positive test for anabolic steroid Trenbolone, which was attributed to contaminated meat.

US sprinted Erriyon Knighton was cleared to race in Paris despite a positive test for the anabolic steroid Trenbolone. Photo: Reuters

Chinada said the US Congress, Usada and American media had adopted a selective approach and “confused right and wrong through fabrication and frame-up”.