WADA Considers Rule Barring US Government Officials from Attending Major International Events

NEW YORK: The idea sounds outlandish, if not downright impossible. Leaders at the are considering adopting a rule that could bar President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending major international events — even if they take place on American soil. A few coming up are as big as they get: this summer’s World Cup; the LA Olympics in 2028; the Winter Games in Utah in 2034. This is not a fight of Trump’s choosing, but rather one being pursued by WADA itself, which has been the subject of bipartisan and virtually universal disapproval in Congress, in the Trump and Biden administrations and in the offices of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for most of this decade. The proposal, on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the WADA executive committee, is the latest and most extreme maneuver in a yearslong exchange of rhetoric, threats and fighting between all parties. It stems from the U.S. government’s refusal to pay its annual WADA dues. The U.S. has held back a total of $7.3 million over 2024 and 2025 in protest of WADA’s handling of a number of issues over the years, most recently, a case involving Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete despite testing positive for a banned substance. WADA took Chinese regulators’ word that the athletes had been accidentally contaminated. WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said the rule, if passed, would “not (be) applied retroactively so World Cup, LA and SLC Games would not be covered.” However, the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not include language to that effect. Fitzgerald did not respond to a series of follow-up questions sent Monday, including one asking how a rule being considered for passage this year would not be applied retroactively to events that have not taken place. Fitzgerald did say last week that the final decision wasn't due until November, after the World Cup, though correspondence between WADA and European officials indicated that decision could come sooner. Here’s a look at how they got to this point and where they might go next.