U.S. Withholds Funding for World Anti-Doping Agency

The offices of the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal in 2021.Credit... Andrej Ivanov/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe United States held back its funding to the World Anti-Doping Agency after losing faith in its ability to guard against the use of banned performance-enhancing drugs at events like the Olympics, the White House said.

The decision by the Biden administration is a significant blow to the agency, which has been under intense scrutiny for decisions not to punish or more aggressively investigate positive tests for banned substances by elite Chinese swimmers in recent years.

The choice to withhold the funding that the United States had committed to providing the agency in…