Accusing Olympic leaders of blackmail over SLC 2034 threat, US lawmakers threaten payments to WADA

AP National Writer

Instead of reexamining a drug-fighting law that Olympic leaders don’t like, a bipartisan group in Congress is proposing a new bill that would hold back funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency if it doesn’t do its job better. Republicans and Democrats joined in rolling out a bill that would make permanent the ability of the U.S. office of drug control to withhold the $3 million-plus payment the government is supposed to give to WADA. Last week, the IOC awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Olympics but only after extracting a promise that organizers would work to undercut a law designed to root out doping conspiracies. That law is being used to investigate WADA’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers that has marred the start of the Paris Olympics.