“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” These powerful words, which originated as a comment in a letter written by English historian John Emerich Edward Dahlberg Acton – better known as Lord Acton, who lived from 1834 to 1902, seem to ring true for the omnipotent US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
As the Paris Olympics were winding down this week, the US sporting authorities were basking in their achievement of the most medals amassed, a feat that slotted the US as the number in the medal list at 196, including 40 golds.
However, the politics in global sport reared their ugly heads once again, exposing what many sporting authorities around the world regard as the “double standard of USADA in the management of doping in sport”.
At the centre of the controversy stands one Erriyon Knighton of Team USA who competed in the men’s 200-metre semi-final on day 12 of the Paris Olympic games on August 7. Many believe Knighton should never have made it to the Olympics after he was found to have tested positive for a banned substance in March.
However, USADA was very quick to avoid sanctioning the sprinter, therefore saving him from suspension. In their hurried findings, USADA said Knighton’s positive test was as a result of “meat contamination”. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had hardly reviewed the Knighton case, and neither had the deadline for appeal expired when USADA declared that “justice was served”.
Russia and Belarusian anti-doping authorities would unsurprisingly be expected to feel aggrieved by USADA’s apparent omnipotence.
But it is China’s Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) that is seething with real anger. When a group of Chinese swimmers were accused of contaminated outcomes in their tests, USADA was very quick to accuse the Chinese authorities and WADA itself of “covering up the truth”. This was on the eve of the Paris games, and an independent investigation, and WADA, had found no foul play in the conduct of Chinese swimmers.
In July, WADA released an official report from the independent investigator, Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier. The report concluded that there was no evidence of favouritism towards China in WADA’s handling of the doping allegations involving Chinese swimmers.
The private investigation had found that the Chinese swimmers had “unknowingly ingested a banned heart medication, traces of which were found in the hotel kitchen where the athletes were staying”. Therefore, the findings read, “WADA made a reasonable decision” by placing trust in the Chinese authorities.
USADA is arguably the most powerful affiliate of WADA. It is made untouchable and frightening by the US Congress’s blatant judicial overreach, which gives the US authorities power to probe any sporting transgression – real or perceived – anywhere in the world.
The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act gives the US authorities what some analysts have described as “near-Orwellian powers of prosecution”. They respect no country’s sovereignty. They act like the police for the world. They are a threat to the founding spirit of the UN Charter which is based on the principle of the pursuit of common public good, or multilateralism.
According to available literature, the Rodchenkov Act “seeks to identify and sanction individuals involved in doping at major international sporting events if American companies are involved in sponsoring those events or the American financial system is utilised by the organisers”.
The law is named after one Grigory Mikhailovich Rodchenkov, former head of Russia’s Anti-Doping Centre who escaped to the West and made startling claims, saying he was personally involved in a state-run doping programme in Russia.
WADA blasted the Rodchenkov law as a “tool for USADA to put itself above the rest of the world, and perhaps even to replace WADA as the global regulator for anti-doping”.
Two days before the Paris Olympics, WADA President Witold Banka, speaking during a session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in France, was quoted as saying: “This cannot be allowed to stand,” warning that if the US authorities assert jurisdiction over cases that have nothing to do with them, it risks putting the US outside the global anti-doping system.
It is encouraging when the world can see global institutions that are supposed to be independent stand up to the US overreaching practices, or anyone for that matter.
For far too long, allegations of WADA and the IOC being captured by USADA and other powerful Global North interests have persisted. Political interference, cover-ups, double standards, and abuse of power are some of a litany of claims that have been labelled against the IOC and WADA periodically.
The harsh treatment meted out to Russian and Belarussian athletes stands out as a glossy example when juxtaposed with the kid gloves and molly-coddling of Israeli authorities despite the mounting charges of genocide against Tel Aviv.
The influence, and impact, of the Global North in international institutions is a gross disservice and a gigantic injustice in terms of the world’s population representation.
In a nutshell, the wealthy minority uses its wealth to keep the rest of the world under its thumb. Such a blatant anomaly where the rich and the poor – the developing and the developed, get treated according to the rule of “different strokes for different folks” is a recipe for the disintegration of world peace.
This is a great pity. Sport, by its nature, is, or should, be a catalyst for global harmony and peaceful coexistence driven by a common goal for a shared future.
WADA, and the IOC, should de-politicise sport much more than they have done so far. The inherent danger amid a consistent atmosphere of injustice is the ultimate disintegration of institutions. Inequality, prejudice of any form, subtle discrimination and traits of imperial practices will lead to the breakaway of the aggrieved majority world – not only in sport but across all spheres and aspects of the international community.
Countries such as China will not keep quiet in the wake of injustice, particularly when directed at Beijing. Russia, which has been isolated largely as a consequence of geopolitical differences, recently held its own “international games” that were attended by more than 100 countries, led by the BRICS member-states.
This week, the UN held a debate on Africa’s under-representation in the UN Security Council (UNSC), leading the UN Chief Antonio Guterres to call for a permanent seat for Africa in the UNSC.
This is the emerging trend of a new struggle for justice and equality in the global governance architecture. The days of imperialism as a heartbeat of the international order are numbered. Wherever inequity and injustice surface, the Global South, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Global East will pull together to push against modern neo-colonialism. The times are changing.
*Abbey Makoe is Founder and Editor-in-Chief: Global South Media Network. The views expressed here are his own.