The United States government has taken a firm stand against WADA anti-doping reforms it says could erode the safeguards protecting clean athletes. Sara Carter, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, published an open letter on 13 June 2026 to all WADA stakeholders. She warned the proposed changes would weaken oversight, cut transparency, and cast doubt over competition results, including at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A Row That Has Been Building for Years

This dispute did not come from nowhere. For more than a decade, tensions have grown between WADA and operationally independent National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs). These NADOs repeatedly exposed failures within the global anti-doping system that WADA itself oversees.

The trigger is a report from the Working Group on the Operational Independence of National Anti-Doping Organisations, the WGOI Report. In January 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers collectively returned 28 samples positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine. NADOs raised the alarm. WADA then hired Swiss lawyer Eric Cottier to review its own conduct. Carter argues the document now repurposes that review to restrict the very bodies that first called out the problem.

“It is predictable but still deeply ironic,” Carter wrote, “that WADA Management’s own conclusion is to reduce the oversight role of NADOs.”

WADA Anti-Doping Reforms and What They Would Change

The WGOI Report recommends shifting some testing responsibilities away from host-country anti-doping agencies to a separate independent body. For the United States, this would directly affect USADA, one of the loudest critics of WADA’s handling of Russian and Chinese doping cases.

Carter says these WADA anti-doping reforms would cause real damage. They would weaken independent NADOs, shake confidence in pre-Olympic testing, destroy checks and balances in the global anti-doping system, and push up testing costs for governments without making the tests more effective.

WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald disagreed. He said the working group’s recommendations “strengthen the independence and credibility of the anti-doping process, including at major events.” He confirmed Tuesday’s extraordinary executive committee meeting would discuss the proposals only. No decisions were planned.

The Exclusion Row

Carter also took aim at the United States being shut out of WADA’s Extraordinary Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting. The US holds the elected ExCo seat for the Americas Region. Fitzgerald confirmed WADA withheld the invitation because the US government stopped paying its membership dues, a long-running dispute rooted in the Russia and China controversies.

Carter argued the exclusion “violates the letter and spirit of the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport.” That treaty carries the signatures of 192 governments. She also said the move blocks vital cooperation on preparations for Los Angeles 2028.

The Credibility Question

Carter challenged the very basis for the proposed changes. She said the justification rests on a vague “athlete perception” argument that nobody has properly proven. US athletes, she noted, express strong confidence in USADA and would be troubled to learn of WADA’s proposals.

She pushed back on the conflict-of-interest argument too. Even if some athletes suspect NADOs might favour their own country’s competitors, that concern does not justify limiting independent NADOs. These organisations already play a vital role in offsetting far stronger conflicts of interest within international sports federations and private testing companies. Both operate under weaker accountability rules than NADOs face inside the global anti-doping system.

Carter’s solution is clear. WADA should stop burdening independent NADOs with unfunded mandates. Instead, it should open itself to a full operational audit by independent experts and external auditors. That, she argued, would genuinely restore trust.

What Comes Next

Carter closed her letter with a direct call to ExCo members and WADA stakeholders. She asked them to resist efforts to hollow out the World Anti-Doping Programme’s effectiveness and transparency.

Los Angeles 2028 is two years away. Global scrutiny of how sport handles doping has never been sharper. The outcome of this fight over WADA anti-doping reforms will shape the credibility of clean competition for years ahead.

Source: dbrecoveryresources