WADA extends intelligence and investigations offensive to Oceania
MELBOURNE, March 3 (Reuters) - A World Anti-doping Agency programme aimed at building cooperation with law enforcement in Europe led to seizures of more than 25 tonnes of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and officials now hope to see a similar impact in Oceania and Asia.
WADA launched the Intelligence and Investigation (I&I)programme in Europe in 2022, hoping it might lead to five anti-doping operations being launched among the 48 countries that participated.
Nearly a year on from the end of the programme, there are more than 100 operations still ongoing across the continent, over 25 tonnes of illicit PEDs seized and 25 laboratories shut down, WADA's I&I Director Gunter Younger told Reuters.
"They prevented more than 500 million doses of PEDs coming on the global market, which is really significant," said the German.
"So this is where our management decided, wow, that's a good project, we want to continue.
"Now we are hoping to have the same impact, perhaps on a different scale, in Asia and Oceania."
WADA I&I staff are meeting anti-doping and law enforcement officials on Australia's Gold Coast this week to share intelligence and build crime-fighting capacity in the Oceania region.
The workshop is the first of six to be held across the region and Asia this year as WADA pushes national anti-doping watchdogs and police to collaborate to shut down illicit PED production and distribution.
Sponsored by Sport Integrity Australia, the Gold Coast workshop is confined to Oceania participants including New Zealand and Pacific nations.
Other workshops in Saudi Arabia, India and Thailand this year will feature Asian nations, including China, a major producer of materials used in PEDs.
China's participation is important, says Younger, to better understand the country's legal framework for these materials.
"Sometimes powder used in PEDs or pre-cursors are allowed but trafficking is not allowed," he said.
"So if we know (the legal framework), then we can provide this intelligence to China .... if there are criminals and (activity) is against the law in China."
CHINA'S COMMITMENT
China's commitment to anti-doping efforts came into question last year when it emerged 23 of the nation's swimmers tested positive for the same banned drug in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics but were cleared to compete at the Games.
Chinese authorities blamed contamination from a hotel kitchen after an investigation. WADA declined to contest the findings on the advice of lawyers.
While defending WADA's handling of the case, Younger noted it had strained relations with the United States, a vital link in the global anti-doping fight.
He said the majority of illicit PEDs seized in Europe during the WADA programme were produced in Asia and bound for the U.S. market.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into the handling of the Chinese case last year and the U.S. government withheld more than $3.6 million in funding due to WADA in 2024, about 6% of the global body's annual budget.
Despite the friction between WADA and the U.S., Younger said his I&I team has a good operational relationship with counterparts at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and that he hoped to roll out I&I workshops in the Americas with U.S. involvement.
But he conceded it may be a while before this happens.
"I know it's political. I stay out of political discussions. If I have a case tomorrow with the U.S., I will call them and say, 'Let's work together' ..." he said.
"So therefore we are hoping by next year, 2027 .... it will be resolved so that we can go back to where we should be, namely fighting against doping and not each other."
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