The United States has opened a federal investigation into the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in 2021 but were not sanctioned.
The United States has opened a federal investigation into the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in 2021 but were not sanctioned, a case that has rocked the anti-doping world since April, the international swimming federation said Friday.
“World Aquatics can confirm that its Executive Director, Brent Nowicki, has received a subpoena from the United States government. He is working to schedule a meeting with the government, which will likely avoid the need to testify before a grand jury.”said a spokesperson contacted by AFP.
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The international federation insists that its leader is summoned as “witness”while investigations “target the World Anti-Doping Agency” (AMA), which has been under fire since it was suspected of covering up these positive tests.
In April, the New York Times and German channel ARD revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive in early 2021 for trimetazidine – banned since 2014 by the World Anti-Doping Code – but were never sanctioned, with the Chinese anti-doping agency Chinada concluding that it was a food contamination a few months before the Tokyo Olympics.
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At the end of May, a US Congressional committee asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate this case using the Rodchenkov Act, passed in December 2020, which allows the United States to prosecute all persons, regardless of their nationality, involved in an international doping system.
“This scandal raises serious legal, ethical and competitive issues and may constitute a broader state-sponsored doping strategy by the People’s Republic of China to compete unfairly in the Olympic Games, as Russia has already done.”wrote House Representatives John Moolenaar (R-N.Y.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-N.Y.) in the letter.
