By Drew Schott
In April 2024, The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported that 23 swimmers from the People’s Republic of China tested positive for a banned substance, trimetazidine (TMZ), seven months before the Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan in 2021. Thirteen of these athletes ended up competing in the Olympic Games after they were cleared of any wrongdoing by the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA), who claimed that small trace amounts of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a team hotel in a case of accidental contamination. The International Testing Agency raised concerns with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but after an investigation, WADA found there was no basis to challenge CHINADA’s findings.
Yet one month after The New York Times and ARD’s findings, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party wrote letters to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Department of Justice urging scrutiny of WADA for its handling of the case involving the Chinese Olympic swimmers. American gold medalist swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt then testified before Congress in June 2024 about whether WADA was successfully addressing doping concerns. Eventually, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an investigation on July 4, 2024 into whether WADA adequately examined doping allegations against the Chinese swimmers.
The FBI’s subpoena to WADA raised concerns from the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, who claimed the law enforcement agency threatened the authority of the Canadian-based WADA. These developments marked the beginning of a sequence of events that has placed the United States (U.S.) at risk of losing the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“The Salt Lake City contract… has the following clause, which has existed in no other agreement before this one for hosting an Olympic Games: ‘If, in any other way, the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping Code is hindered or undermined, it is grounds to terminate the contract,” said Dr. Genevieve Birren, a Professor in the Sport Management Department at SUNY Cortland. “This is the clause that might come back around, depending on what future actions Congress takes. If the United States doesn’t follow the code or if the United States jeopardizes WADA or challenges WADA in a way the IOC finds unacceptable, they have grounds to terminate the contract for the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.”
Birren explored the timeline of events and current state of affairs between the U.S. government and WADA in her lecture, “Will Congress Cause Salt Lake City to Lose the 2034 Winter Olympics?” at the Sport and Recreation Law Association Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.
After the U.S. withheld its $3.6 million dues to WADA for 2024, it lost its seats on the agency’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board. The Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2025 (The Act) was eventually proposed and calls for WADA to implement certain governance reforms and seek fair representation of the U.S. on its Executive Committee and Foundation Board. According to Birren, The Act “would demand that this non-American, non-governmental private entity put representatives of our government… always on their governing board.” WADA opposed The Act by claiming the U.S. attempted to insert “bias” into the organization by threatening to stop payments, as well as undermine its values and principles as an international regulatory body.
The U.S. – which previously paid the most dues of any country – eventually declined to pay $3.7 million in dues to WADA for 2025. Additionally, The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed in February blocked funding to WADA until anti-doping experts and independent auditors demonstrated that WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board were operating within their duties. Yet Witold Bańka, the President of WADA, opposed the United States’ viewpoint.
“In an interview, he said, ‘We’re already audited,’” Birren said. “‘We’re an extensively audited organization and the auditing that has been done by independent bodies should meet the United States’ criteria’… He also stressed that most of the money the United States hasn’t paid has been made up through other public sources. So, the United States pulled their money thinking that would be leverage and WADA has basically gotten that money back from others.”
With less than a decade until the Olympic Games return to Salt Lake City, Birren questioned whether its contract could end prematurely if the U.S. passes The Act. According to her, “there is no incentive” for WADA to abide by the U.S.’ demands. Despite the legislation being supported by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Birren believes the U.S. “is running out of leverage” as WADA’s normal operations are not being impacted. She added that the U.S. “overplayed its hand and played the entire hand immediately.”
“The United States may simply not be awarded future events moving forward,” Birren said.
Whether that development occurs or not hinges on whether The Act is passed.
“If they don’t pass the law, the United States is good,” Birren said. “Honestly, I don’t think that the U.S. is going to because I don’t know what they gain from it. It’s simply posturing at this point for them to pass the law. But if the U.S. does, I can’t promise you that Salt Lake City is going to host an Olympic Games in 2034 because I think the IOC would have to pull it.”
Events, Will Congress Cause Salt Lake City to Lose the 2034 Winter Olympics, (February 25, 2026), https://www.srlaconference.org/program-schedule/.
Drew Schott is a J.D. Candidate at Tulane University Law School. He is also a current Staff Writer for The Sports Lawyer Monthly.
