Global Athlete has called for WADA to formally address the ongoing controversy regarding the 23 Chinese swimmers allowed to compete in Tokyo. GLOBAL ATHLETE

In light of the ongoing scandal involving 23 Chinese swimmers being allowed to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Games even after testing positive for trimetazidine, Global Athlete has sent out an open letter to the World Anti-Doping Agency stating their mistrust in the organisation and requesting transparency on the investigations taken on the swimmers’ case and actions to be taken going forward to ensure a fair playing field for all athletes. 

The letter —addressed to Witold Bańka, President of WADA— calls out WADA and World Aquatics’ lack of action and transparency. It details how WADA has continuously evaded clarifying the cover-up allegations made against the organisation, and instead deflecting responsibility to the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA), evading its own accountability as the global regulator, and has made threats of lawsuits aimed at anyone brave enough to speak out.



The groups behind the letter; Athleten Deutschland e.V., Athletics Association, Pentathlon United, Global Athlete and BSSF, go on to formally request the testing agency for actions to be taken in the matter regarding the Chinese swimmers, and for future protocols to be put in place to prevent any future cases. Among the demands are for WADA to release the CHINADA report explaining why the 23 athletes who tested positive were never provisionally suspended and the internal email and text exchanges that led WADA and World Aquatics to decide not to appeal these cases.

In addition, the groups have asked the organisation to learn from the Chinese swimmers’ case to strengthen procedures in the anti-doping fight and to appoint a truly independent multi-disciplinary investigation team with the approval and sign-off from external athlete groups. 

The open letter stated that the requests are shared strongly across the sporting world and within governments: and that athletes, athlete advocacy organisations and governments are invested in getting true clarity and remedy on this case. Should this fail under WADA, lobbying for an alternative anti-doping system will mount.

As athletes’ trust and confidence in the anti-doping system continuously erode, the groups request that WADA address the case in a timely manner and for the organisation to restore an integral element of elite competition – an even and clean playing field.