Join WhatsApp Channel
Join Telegram ChannelFIRST ON FOX: A group of Republicans in the House of Representatives is wading into the fight between the United States and China over the global agency responsible for regulating athletes' use of performance-enhancing drugs.
“We, the undersigned Members of Congress, write to express our grave concern regarding recent developments involving the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its handling of doping allegations,” reads a letter addressed to WADA President Witold Banka.
“The transparency and integrity of global sport are at stake, and we believe it is imperative that these issues are addressed quickly and thoroughly.”
BALANCE OF POWER: TRUMP CAMPAIGN DENOUNCES SENATOR TESTER AS 'RADICALLY OUT OF CONTEXT' AFTER ABORTION AD
Tensions between the United States and China have escalated again ahead of the Olympics. (Getty Images)
The letter from Reps. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Morgan Griffith, R-Va., first highlighted allegations that WADA kept secret the fact that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for banned substances ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, news it was forced to disclose after it was discovered by reporters.
“It has now emerged that two more Chinese swimmers, including a member of China's 2024 Paris Olympics team, tested positive in 2022 for a banned drug,” the lawmakers wrote.
An investigation by China's anti-doping agency blamed the drug in the two swimmers' systems on contaminated hamburger meat, a finding WADA did not dispute.
U.S. officials have accused WADA of lacking transparency in the weeks leading up to the recently concluded Paris Olympics. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held a hearing in June with star swimmers Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt, when they said athletes had lost trust in the international agency.
CHINA'S SHIPBUILDING CAPACITY IS MORE THAN 200 TIMES THAT OF THE US, NAVY INTELLIGENCE SAYS
Rep. Debbie Lesko, Republican of Arizona, led the letter. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The AMA defended itself by accusing the United States of placing it at the heart of the country's geopolitical conflicts.
A senior WADA official told the BBC in late July: “Some individuals [in the US] are trying to score political points simply because the athletes in question are Chinese.
Republican lawmakers are demanding the agency provide “a detailed accounting” of its investigation into the 23 Chinese swimmers it cleared and explain why it did not publicly disclose the results sooner, as well as a request to commission an independent third-party investigation into the decision.
“The American public, athletes, and the global sports community deserve answers. We stand for the principle that sport should be free from corruption and those who violate anti-doping rules should be held accountable, regardless of their nationality,” the letter reads.
The sporting tensions are part of a growing rift between the United States and China, with relations between the two superpowers at their most frosty in modern history.
CCP-LINKED, DEMOCRAT-BACKED ELECTRIC VEHICLE COMPANY BUYING MICHIGAN MILITARY LAND FROM US MILITARY BASES
China responded to the US allegations by accusing it of double standards, calling for more doping tests for American athletes.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) told Fox News Digital that it supports Lesko's letter.
“Those with nothing to hide will seize the opportunity to answer questions and provide the information stakeholders need to have confidence that the rules are being consistently applied,” said Travis T. Tygart, USADA’s President and CEO. “We deeply appreciate all efforts to ensure accountability, transparency and a strong global anti-doping regulator on behalf of clean athletes.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the AMA for comment.