It’s a scandal that continues to make waves. According to an investigation by German public television ARD and the New York Times, 23 of the best Chinese swimmers tested positive in early 2021 for trimetazidine, a substance banned since 2014 on the grounds that it improves blood circulation. These revelations “cause a lot of concern,” said Rémi Keller, president of the sanctions commission, independent of the AFLD, in a press release sent to AFP on Monday.
“It is not so much the absence of sanctions, decided by the Chinese anti-doping agency after an investigation conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, which is of concern. It is the follow-up given to this affair by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which arouses the most incomprehension,” he attacks. According to him “WADA’s reasoning is contrary to the world anti-doping code which provides that it is up to the athlete who tests positive to demonstrate their lack of responsibility”.
On Saturday, WADA estimated that it was “not able to refute the possibility of contamination as a source of trimetazidine”, after having consulted independent experts to test this hypothesis. Along the same lines, the international swimming federation explained that it had “carefully examined” the positive results and had also contacted independent experts.
“One may wonder if the restrictions linked to Covid-19, invoked by the global agency, authorized it to free itself from this rule when it claims to be its vigilant guardian to the point of sometimes exerting unacceptable pressure on national organizations as it did in 2023 with regard to the French sanctions commission,” added the president of the sanctions commission.
The latter had had trouble with the AMA and had denounced in September 2023 to the AFP “an attempt at pressure” from the AMA which accused it of “not being severe enough” and brandished the threat of “no compliance “.
On Monday, Rémi Keller considered it “urgent that light be shed on this new affair, so that the shadow of suspicion does not hang over the competitions, whether with regard to athletes or to that of the organizations responsible for ensuring a clean sport.