BEIJING: China’s anti-doping agency said on Friday it will cooperate with a compliance audit ordered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) involving a case where 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a prescription heart drug.

“CHINADA will actively cooperate with the coming audit by WADA, and provide assistance where needed,” the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) said in a statement.

WADA said on Thursday it would send a compliance audit team to China to “assess the current state of the cou­ntry’s anti-doping program” run by body CHINADA. In its statement, CHINADA said it “will work for the rights and interests of clean athletes and the integrity in sport”.

WADA has faced criticism since media reports that the swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) — which can enhance performance — ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but were not sanctioned after WADA accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the case was caused by food contamination.

On Thursday, WADA said on it had asked an independent prosecutor to review its handling of the case of the Chinese swimmers.

CHINADA said the world body’s request for an independent review was “a clear demonstration of fairness, openness and transparency of WADA”.

The head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, has called the situation a “potential cover-up” and USADA on Thursday branded WADA’s announcement of an independent investigation “self-serving”.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2024