The World Anti-Doping Agency has postponed a crucial decision that could see government officials barred from major sporting events if their nations fail to pay their dues.
The move defers a potential confrontation involving President Donald Trump and other US officials until at least after this summer’s World Cup.
WADA’s executive committee, meeting on Tuesday, announced it would revisit the proposed rule in September, two months after the conclusion of the World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.
Should the rule be adopted later this year, it would likely come into effect before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The US has not remitted its contributions to WADA since 2023. If this continues, the new regulation could theoretically place Trump and US lawmakers on a banned list for events held in their own country, although questions remain over an anti-doping body’s power to enforce such a ban for Olympic attendance.
The dispute with WADA has not been a partisan issue in the US, with payments withheld in both 2024 and 2025 – once during Mr Trump’s presidency and again under Joe Biden’s administration.
The US has withheld $7.3m over these two years, citing WADA’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other concerns.
WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald previously indicated the proposed rule would “not (be) applied retroactively so World Cup, LA and SLC Games would not be covered.”
However, the proposal itself, seen by The Associated Press, contained no such language, and Mr Fitzgerald did not clarify his use of the term “retroactively.”
Following Tuesday’s meeting, WADA director general Olivier Niggli stated that “the withholding of contributions by governments for political or other voluntary reasons remains a serious topic of concern for all WADA’s stakeholders.”
He added: “Funding instability has a direct effect on the functioning and development of the World Anti-Doping Program. Ultimately, those who are most directly and most negatively impacted are athletes around the world.”
WADA began exploring this issue in 2020, around the time the US first threatened to withhold funds, though the agency insists the matter of penalising non-paying governments is not specifically aimed at the United States.
A US representative, drug czar Rahul Gupta, led efforts to reject the proposal in 2024 but the US has since lost its position on the committee. The proposal resurfaced this year, with WADA informing European decision-makers that such a measure could be adopted “without undue delay.”
European officials have questioned why the executive committee is reconsidering the issue before a working group has completed its analysis.
Any decision by the executive committee would require ratification by the WADA foundation board, whose next scheduled meeting is in November, though WADA indicated in a February letter to Europeans that the board could convene sooner.
