In a damaging blow to the agency, the Biden administration said it had lost confidence in WADA’s ability to guard against the use of performance-enhancing drugs by elite athletes.
The United States has held back its funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency after losing faith in its ability to guard against the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs at events like the Olympics, the White House said.
The decision by the Biden administration is a significant blow to the agency, which has been under intense scrutiny for decisions not to punish or more aggressively investigate positive tests for banned substances by elite Chinese swimmers in recent years.
The decision to withhold the funding that the United States had committed to providing the agency in 2024 was made by the White House in consultation with Congress. The United States had been the single largest country funder to the agency, known as WADA.
“WADA must take concrete actions to restore trust in the world antidoping system and provide athletes the full confidence they deserve,” the White House said in a statement released late on Tuesday. “When U.S. taxpayer dollars are allocated, we must ensure full accountability, and it is our responsibility to ensure those funds are used appropriately.”
The United States had been slated to contribute $3.6 million for 2024, a tiny amount of the federal budget but a significant part of WADA’s funding. The American contribution is matched by the International Olympic Committee and would ultimately make up 14 percent of the organization’s roughly $52 million budget for 2024.
The question of whether the U.S. will provide funding for this year will fall to the second Trump administration, which took an adversarial approach to WADA during President Donald J. Trump’s first term.