American Tax dollars and WADA

[Eman]

Opinion:

The World Anti-Doping Agency is kind of a shadow international governing body because it takes taxpayers money globally to help fund its operation.WADA is of the opinion that virtually every athlete in the world is guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs until proven innocent. Now to be clear, the United States taxpayers’ contribution to WADA is minuscule but American tax dollars are going to support an organization that is on the lookout for cheating athletes.

WADA has gotten snared in a major problem involving the drug meldonium which is now described as a heart attack drug. The prescription medicine was placed on a WADA banned substance list and a major tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive because it was in her system. There are a number of other Russian athletes who also have tested positive for a drug that was not deemed a performance enhancer until late in 2015. Now WADA is backpedaling because the agency has no idea how long the drug stays in the body. There are more clinical tests scheduled byWADA to get a definite statement but because WADA, the quasi-international jock watchdog agency patrolling the performance enhancing drug beat, hasn’t done the due diligence about the heart attack drug and that could mean that athletes who tested positive for meldonium in their systems won’t face whatever sanctions that WADA imposes on athletes found with a banned substance. But meldonium is not a banned substance it is legal. And that is a problem for sports and the people who wanted sports protected sports organizers who want bona fide competitions.

Do they really care about athletes’ health? Probably not but do they care about the money train that sports provides. Meanwhile, it’s time for WADA to get funding from sports organizations because government has no place in sports drug testing unless drug enforcement agencies have to arrest an athlete for breaking local drug laws.

WADA: American Tax Dollars And “Cheating” Athletes | The Sport Digest

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"Now to be clear, the United States taxpayers’ contribution to WADA is minuscule but American tax dollars are going to support an organization that is on the lookout for cheating athletes."

So how much is miniscule?

$2,052,430 in 2016...

$1,992,650 in 2015...

In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a whole lot out of the individual taxpayer's money.

But, do you support your tax money being spent on this?

I guess I might get some biased opinions...

 

[ergomaniac]

Opinion:

The World Anti-Doping Agency is kind of a shadow international governing body because it takes taxpayers money globally to help fund its operation.WADA is of the opinion that virtually every athlete in the world is guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs until proven innocent. Now to be clear, the United States taxpayers’ contribution to WADA is minuscule but American tax dollars are going to support an organization that is on the lookout for cheating athletes.

WADA has gotten snared in a major problem involving the drug meldonium which is now described as a heart attack drug. The prescription medicine was placed on a WADA banned substance list and a major tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive because it was in her system. There are a number of other Russian athletes who also have tested positive for a drug that was not deemed a performance enhancer until late in 2015. Now WADA is backpedaling because the agency has no idea how long the drug stays in the body. There are more clinical tests scheduled byWADA to get a definite statement but because WADA, the quasi-international jock watchdog agency patrolling the performance enhancing drug beat, hasn’t done the due diligence about the heart attack drug and that could mean that athletes who tested positive for meldonium in their systems won’t face whatever sanctions that WADA imposes on athletes found with a banned substance. But meldonium is not a banned substance it is legal. And that is a problem for sports and the people who wanted sports protected sports organizers who want bona fide competitions.

Do they really care about athletes’ health? Probably not but do they care about the money train that sports provides. Meanwhile, it’s time for WADA to get funding from sports organizations because government has no place in sports drug testing unless drug enforcement agencies have to arrest an athlete for breaking local drug laws.

WADA: American Tax Dollars And “Cheating” Athletes | The Sport Digest

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Now to be clear, the United States taxpayers’ contribution to WADA is minuscule but American tax dollars are going to support an organization that is on the lookout for cheating athletes."

So how much is miniscule?

$2,052,430 in 2016...

$1,992,650 in 2015...

In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a whole lot out of the individual taxpayer's money.

But, do you support your tax money being spent on this?

I guess I might get some biased opinions...

i don't support it. any of it. fuck wada.
there are more important things than outing cheating, or "cheating" athletes.
excellent human performance is applicable everywhere! with or without drugs.

 

[Eman]

i don't support it. any of it. fuck wada.

Well said.

I'm curious to know what Mr Reedie's net worth is... not sure how that works with WADA. Millard, you know what compensation looks like at the big boys table at WADA?

I posted another article earlier that puts this one into context too:

WADA President & The US Senate

 

[Millard]

Well said.

I'm curious to know what Mr Reedie's net worth is... not sure how that works with WADA. Millard, you know what compensation looks like at the big boys table at WADA?

I posted another article earlier that puts this one into context too:

WADA President & The US Senate

I don't know about WADA executives but USADA executive compensation is a matter of public record. CEO Travis Tygart's total annual compensation is over $400,000.

Organizational Documents | U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

 

[Millard]

Again, I am not sure about WADA but it is worth noting that USADA's primary source of funding is via the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

 

[Eman]

I don't know about WADA executives but USADA executive compensation is a matter of public record. CEO Travis Tygart's total annual compensation is over $400,000.

Organizational Documents | U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica

Thanks for that info, Millard. I knew some of this stuff must be available to the public... still curious about WADA. That's an organization that's got their hands in an awful lot of cookie jars. Perhaps we'll see something in the news someday similar to the FIFA scandal. Wanna go undercover Millard?

Per their form 990, USADA's mission is to, "protect the rights of athletes."

 

[MindlessWork]

Thanks for that info, Millard. I knew some of this stuff must be available to the public... still curious about WADA. That's an organization that's got their hands in an awful lot of cookie jars. Perhaps we'll see something in the news someday similar to the FIFA scandal. Wanna go undercover Millard?


Per their form 990, USADA's mission is to, "protect the rights of athletes."

Protecting athletes rights...what a crock. All they do is starting witch hunts

 

[Millard]

Per their form 990, USADA's mission is to, "protect the rights of athletes."

Protecting athletes rights...what a crock. All they do is starting witch hunts

There some academics who don't think anti-doping organizations like WADA are doing a good job of protecting the rights of athletes. See this adapted excerpt from University of Colorado-Boulder Professor Roger Pielke's forthcoming book "The Edge: The War Against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports":

Can anti-doping bodies maintain their scientific integrity? The answer is troubling

In my forthcoming book, The Edge: The War Against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports, I document numerous instances of the corruption of science in sport. Science is at the centre of issues involving huge economic and political stakes, making scientific integrity something that matters. The episode I describe here, adapted from The Edge, involves Erik Tysse, a Norwegian race walker, who was not treated well by the sports organizations that were supposed to be protecting his rights.

[...]

What does appear clear is that Wada, the body responsible for enforcing antidoping rules and regulations, engaged in unambiguously questionable practices regarding the presentation of scientific evidence. The aggressive behavior of Wada toward scientists raising questions about Wada’s practices raises questions about the ability of the organization to implement a robust and fair scientific approach to antidoping. Cas arbitrators may trust Wada, but based on how Wada treated evidence and criticism in the Tysse case, is it not clear that anyone else should.​

 

[Eman]

There some academics who don't think anti-doping organizations like WADA are doing a good job of protecting the rights of athletes

Rightly so. I mean, they do the opposite for the most part... they remove athletes rights quite often.

That's an interesting article as well. I'm going to come over and browse your bookshelf someday Millard! Although, I haven't started reading the last book you recommended me.

I like the paper that Roger refers to that delves into Tysses' testing and the questionable methods and results.

Unfortunately, as soon as the inevitable cycle starts of athlete tests positive, athletes denies use, testing agency upholds etc etc... the damage is done for the athlete it seems. The drugs they MIGHT be using have been demonized too much for anyone to consider another possibility.

It's too bad that an agency like WADA doesn't face any sort of penalty when they screw up... for now, it seems that it's ONLY the athletes that get penalized if they screw up. Or even if they don't....

 

[MindlessWork]

There some academics who don't think anti-doping organizations like WADA are doing a good job of protecting the rights of athletes. See this adapted excerpt from University of Colorado-Boulder Professor Roger Pielke's forthcoming book "The Edge: The War Against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports":

Can anti-doping bodies maintain their scientific integrity? The answer is troubling

In my forthcoming book, The Edge: The War Against Cheating and Corruption in the Cutthroat World of Elite Sports, I document numerous instances of the corruption of science in sport. Science is at the centre of issues involving huge economic and political stakes, making scientific integrity something that matters. The episode I describe here, adapted from The Edge, involves Erik Tysse, a Norwegian race walker, who was not treated well by the sports organizations that were supposed to be protecting his rights.

[...]

What does appear clear is that Wada, the body responsible for enforcing antidoping rules and regulations, engaged in unambiguously questionable practices regarding the presentation of scientific evidence. The aggressive behavior of Wada toward scientists raising questions about Wada’s practices raises questions about the ability of the organization to implement a robust and fair scientific approach to antidoping. Cas arbitrators may trust Wada, but based on how Wada treated evidence and criticism in the Tysse case, is it not clear that anyone else should.​

Very troubling indeed. Shows this organization can't be trusted period. If they can't be fair why even bother to exist?

 

[Millard]

Very troubling indeed. Shows this organization can't be trusted period. If they can't be fair why even bother to exist?

See post #4

 

[Eman]

See post #4

What a relief they are non profit.