WARSAW, April 11 — The American anti–doping system is far from perfect, World Anti–Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka said on Friday. “Our greatest critic is the CEO of the American Anti–Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, who has been leading anti-WADA crusades for years. The community seems to have noticed that the goal may be to divert attention from their own problems. The American anti–doping system is far from perfect,” Banka told Polish media Sportowe Fakty (Sport Facts) on Friday. “For years, we have been pointing out that the anti–doping system, for example in American college sports, the NCAA, is very weak.
There are no blood tests, there are no out-of-competition tests, athletes aren’t required to provide information about their whereabouts, the NCAA is not a signatory to the World Anti–Doping Code,” the WADA president added. “About 90 percent of American athletes are not subject to the aforementioned anti-doping code. Some of them are tested only when they become Olympians or shortly before,” he explained. On March 18, WADA reaffirmed its position against the politicization of sport and took a firm stance to support the decision regarding the contamination cases involving Chinese swimmers at the 19th Annual Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“We are much stronger and more effective today than we were a few years ago. Our anti–doping system is the most harmonized legal system in the world. For me, the greatest value is WADA’s independence — and I won’t allow anyone to violate it, not even the superpowers,” the Pole noted. Banka was elected as the president of WADA in May 2019. His term was later extended for another one. On May 29, he has a chance to go down in history as the first person elected to three terms as head of WADA. (Xinhua)
