U.S. lawmakers accused the International Olympic Committee of “blackmail” and threatened to withhold significant funding from the World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday.
The IOC awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics last week but slipped in a condition concerning a U.S. anti-doping law. The law, passed in 2019, empowers federal law enforcement to investigate doping conspiracies worldwide.
IOC officials lobbied against the law at the time and required Utah organizers and political leaders to attempt to shut down an FBI investigation as a condition of hosting the 2034 Games.
“This brazen attempt by the IOC and WADA to force Utah to interfere in an investigation would win the gold medal in blackmail,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) said.
In response, representatives proposed a bipartisan bill that would stop a $3 million payment from the U.S. to WADA, the anti-doping watchdogs championed by the IOC. It was a rare moment of Republican and Democratic unity in a tensely divided Congress.
“That sort of blackmail and bullying is exactly the problem that we’re trying to get at,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said. “I think that their position is absolutely unsustainable, and I’m confident that will not happen at the end of the day.”
WADA has a $52 million budget for 2024, and the expected $3.62 million payment from the U.S. is the largest contribution from a single country.
U.S. leaders passed the 2019 law after Russia’s state-sponsored doping program from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was exposed. Earlier this year, numerous positive drug tests among Chinese swimmers in 2021 were reported, and the FBI opened an investigation.
The IOC wanted Salt Lake City organizers and Utah politicians to put an end to that investigation and included the provision in the contract for the 2034 Games.
“That was the only way that we could guarantee that we would get the Games,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said after the announcement. If the U.S. does not respect the “supreme authority of WADA,” the governor said, “they can withdraw the Games from us.”
With News Wire Services
