Legal experts have raised concerns over the leniency shown towards U.S. athletes who have been caught doping but are allowed to compete in exchange for providing information on others, sparking calls for stricter global anti-doping standards.
The ongoing dispute between the U.S. and international anti-doping agencies has intensified following revelations that American athletes involved in doping scandals have been granted special treatment, seemingly in exchange for acting as whistleblowers.
In response, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a stern rebuke to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and said in a statement that this practice is a blatant violation of both WADA and the USADA's own regulations.
Legal insiders say that while the case may be reflective of a common approach in the U.S. justice system to reward cooperation, its potential impact on fairness and transparency in the realm of international sports should be brought into serious question.
"I think that is essentially what's mirrored in the practice, usually we found in the U.S. law, which we can say it's like the perpetrator can actually engage in bargaining with the law enforcement, police, or prosecutor to act as the whistleblower or undercover agents in exchange for more lenient treatment. So that is what usually happened in the US domestic context. Apparently, we found the US often engaged in bringing in its own domestic practice in criminal investigation into the anti-doping practice that everyone has to follow the world code," said Cai Guo, managing partner of the Jin Mao (Beijing) Law Firm specialized in international dispute resolution and arbitration.
U.S. officials have been accused of providing "special treatment" for these potential whistleblowers, with one expert suggesting it appears as if some deals were being made behind closed doors, and saying the USADA should not usurp the authority of WADA which upholds neutrality at an international level.
"It looks as if some kind of deal-making was going on. And there has been some special treatment for these potential whistleblowers. And yes, this is definitely a practice which apparently is legal in the United States, but which should not be applied on an international scale. And especially since WADA is an entity which is neutral, and its existence is based on a consensus of all nations that its ruling should be transparent and, let me say, on a higher level than national rulings," said Fabio Ries, Co-Founder of RockRoc (Beijing) Sports and Outdoor Development Ltd.
While the U.S. has touted its commitment to transparency, Ries said there appears to be a stark contradiction between how it has handled these doping violation cases and its public claims.
"There seems to be a contradiction, definitely, so there is no doubt about that. Unfortunately, these things happen all the time, and they happen all around the world. This is also a fact. I mean rules are there which theoretically are valid for everybody. But then there are different interests and different entities who have their own agenda and they claim to stick to the rules. But in the end, when they can, they definitely put their own interests first," he said.
As the controversy threatens to cast a shadow over the ongoing Paris Olympics, Cai suggested that a legal resolution through the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an independent international institution based in Switzerland's Lausanne, could be the best way forward.
"If there is a dispute concerning how the case should be handled and whether it is mishandled, I believe the correct way of handling it is to resolve it legally. So WADA or USADA, are perfectly entitled to bring it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for resolving this dispute, rather than attacking each other in politically charged statements," she said.
Legal experts question US doping leniency, call for int'l anti-doping standards to be upheld
