U.S. at risk of losing Winter Olympics if it probes Chinese swimmers, says Dick Pound

Olympics. Pic/AFP

There is a possibility that the United States may lose the Olympics if its law enforcement agencies go too far in the investigation of the alleged doping case of Chinese swimmers, according to former senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Dick Pound.

Pound, who is also the World Anti-Doping Agency's founding president, told an international news agency that The Rodchenkov Act the U.S. is using to investigate the contamination case of 23 Chinese swimmers is non-compliant with the world anti-doping code.

Any country not compliant with the code is not allowed to compete in or stage international sporting events. The Rodchenkov Act gives the United States broad extraterritorial jurisdiction to any international sporting competitions, either participated by American athletes or having financial connections to the United States, Xinhua said on Wednesday quoting the report.

"I guess that one of the steps that WADA is going to take at this point is to turn this particular issue over to the compliance review committee.

"Which I suspect, if or when there's a hearing on it, they will declare the U.S. non-compliant. It would mean they could not host the Olympics," Pound was quoted by Reuters.

Pound said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might consider delaying the confirmation of Salt Lake City as host of the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) has voiced its support for WADA while expressing concerns about the safety of its officials. The U.S. Department of Justice, probing WADA's handling of the case, has summoned the executive director of World Aquatics, Brent Nowicki, to testify in the case.

A review by Swiss independent prosecutor Eric Cottier looking into WADA's handling of the case has reached the conclusion that WADA was not "biased" and had no irregularities while the audit by World Aquatics reached similar conclusions that there was no mismanagement or cover-up.

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