Washington politicians have once again extended their desire for long-arm jurisdiction to the pure land of the Olympics. U.S. lawmakers from both parties recently proposed the so-called "Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Act," which plans to give the U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy "permanent power" to withhold more than $3 million that the U.S. government should pay to WADA each year. Using membership fees to threaten and insult an international organization with considerable credibility and influence, and brazenly standing on the opposite side of the international community, seems to have become a fixed pattern for Washington to declare its privileges.

The so-called "restoration of confidence" in this bill implies "distrust" of WADA. This is not the first time that Washington has challenged the authority of WADA. The U.S. Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, which came into effect in 2020, allows the country to exercise "extraterritorial criminal jurisdiction" over doping incidents in international sports events, which seriously damages the purity and fairness of international sports events and has been widely criticized by the sports community and world public opinion. Neither the International Olympic Committee nor WADA supports the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, believing that it gives the United States too much power to enforce the world's anti-doping rules. Not only that, the law allows the United States to charge, fine or even imprison anyone involved in doping incidents in any international event involving American athletes, but does not cover the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and the vast majority of American athletes. 90% of American athletes compete outside of WADA supervision. This is an obvious double standard.

The trigger for the US lawmakers to draft the new bill was the recent announcement by the International Olympic Committee that if the US does not respect the supreme authority of WADA, Salt Lake City may be deprived of the right to host the 2034 Winter Olympics. This is a severe warning to Washington for its disregard for WADA's authority, and the US lawmakers responded by launching an "enhanced version" of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. To put it bluntly, this new bill is the US reaffirming its "cross-border jurisdiction" in the field of world anti-doping, replacing international rules with US rules and restricting athletes from all countries with US laws, but US athletes can be an exception. This kind of privileged mentality and hegemonic style is really jaw-dropping.

The more critical point is that the United States does this not to safeguard the fairness of sports, but to suppress its opponents in the name of sports and introduce geopolitics and Cold War mentality into the Olympics. Recently, the news that "the Chinese swimming team received an average of 21 doping tests before the Olympics" caused a public outcry. This is a follow-up to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)'s investigation of Chinese athletes based on the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. Although WADA has already reviewed and recognized the investigation conclusions of the China Anti-Doping Center. In this regard, WADA Chairman Banka warned the United States that USADA’s groundless accusations against Chinese athletes are “politically motivated” and “anti-China bias”. USADA is trying to override other anti-doping agencies in the world or even replace WADA. “It is Not allowed." In response to the continued hype by the US media, the China Anti-Doping Center recently issued a statement refuting it. WADA also criticized the US media for politicizing anti-doping matters. Previously, the World Swimming Federation clearly rebutted that it would not do so without conclusive and credible evidence. Restart the investigation into Chinese athletes.

Half of WADA's operating expenses come from the International Olympic Committee, and the other half is shared by governments that have joined the World Anti-Doping Movement. This allows WADA to reflect the interests of a wide range of countries and entities to the greatest extent and ensure its fairness and authority in the field of doping governance. The United States, due to its strong economic strength, is obliged to share more expenses. It can be seen that the United States is trying to pursue unilateral sports hegemony through three means: judicial jurisdiction, funding "cut-off", and media propaganda. The anti-doping issue has been increasingly politicized and instrumentalized by the United States, becoming an extension of its hegemony in international politics and diplomacy.

The farce unfolding on Capitol Hill also exposes Washington's consistent logic of power, which is to believe that whoever pays more has the right to speak. This is treating international sports organizations as joint-stock companies, positioning itself as the only rule maker, and threatening to "withdraw from the group" at any time. Washington's false narrative and pan-politicized manipulation of doping tests have seriously desecrated the Olympic spirit. The Olympics is a symbol of global solidarity and peace. On this stage that showcases human justice and friendship, Washington has personally messed up its own image as a great power.