‘The devil is in the detail’ – Sport Ireland waits for Wada review of China doping scandal
Sport Ireland chief executive Dr Una May. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Sport Ireland CEO Una May has said the body has written to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to express its concerns about how the doping scandal in Chinese swimming was handled.
In April, the New York Times and ARD revealed 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned prescription heart medication, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but were cleared to compete at the Games – where some won medals – after an investigation by Chinese authorities found the banned substance was ingested via food contamination from a hotel kitchen.
WADA did not challenge that finding, with US Anti-Doping CEO Travis Tygart accusing it of allowing a “cover-up”, which WADA said was “outrageous, completely false and defamatory.”
May, the long-time director of Sport Ireland’s Anti-Doping Unit, is among those seeking answers from WADA about the case. “We’ve engaged closely with our colleagues around the world and expressed our disappointment with how the process has been followed through by WADA,” she said. “We have acknowledged the position of the athletes and coaches who are now potentially going to face these athletes in Paris.
“We’ve written to WADA, we’ve received a response and we’re now waiting on WADA’s review which they promised they’d carry out. We’re somewhat disappointed with how it has materialised and we’re looking forward to hearing a bit more because sometimes the devil is in the detail, and we might discover as a result of the investigation that it was legitimate how things panned out.”
