Photo: IC

 The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) condemned recent media reports on Friday that smeared Chinese athletes and China's anti-doping work, stating that they have violated ethics and laws by disclosing private information, seriously infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of athletes. It also called on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to investigate the incident.

Some Western media outlets recently reported that Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) before the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, accusing WADA of shielding Chinese athletes and failing to hold them accountable.

WADA has commissioned an independent review into the reported incident after refuting these claims, labeling them as "misleading and potentially defamatory media coverage."

In a statement released on Friday, CHINADA criticized overseas organizations and media outlets such as the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), The New York Times, and Germany's ARD television for distorting facts in their statements and reports on this incident.

CHINADA stated that these organizations and media outlets have disregarded China's firm opposition to doping in sports and the achievements of its anti-doping efforts, showing serious bias against China's anti-doping work.

They have taken a preconceived stance in this incident, made erroneous judgments, taken inappropriate actions, and published reports and statements that clearly deviate from basic facts. They have attempted to manipulate the media, mislead the public, disseminate false information, attack WADA and CHINADA, and undermine the current effective global anti-doping system, it noted.

CHINADA pointed out that Germany's ARD television, The New York Times, and other media outlets, organizations, and individuals have violated professional ethics, ethical standards, and relevant legal provisions by unauthorized disclosure of privacy information, including the names of multiple athletes, including minors.

"This serious infringement has severely violated the legitimate rights and interests of the athletes. We strongly condemn this behavior and call on WADA to investigate this information leak incident," it said, noting that the agency reserves the right to take appropriate legal action.

The Chinese agency also noted that WADA will undergo a review regarding the 23 Chinese swimmers' non-fault contamination incident involving TMZ, which demonstrates WADA's commitment to fairness, openness, and transparency.

WADA said in an earlier statement that given the specific circumstances of the asserted contamination, the athletes would be held to have no fault or negligence.

Following the TMZ contamination incident in swimming in 2021, CHINADA adhered to a scientific, rigorous, and objective approach and promptly initiated a comprehensive and meticulous investigation, the agency said.

Based on the investigation results, environmental sample testing, scientific experiment conclusions, and expert opinions, combined with evidence of the athletes undergoing multiple and regular doping tests and examinations, it was determined that the TMZ positives among these athletes resulted from inadvertent ingestion of contaminated food during their participation in competitions, without their knowledge.

Therefore, it was concluded that the athletes involved bore no fault or negligence in this incident, and no further doping charges were brought against them, it said. 

Global Times