Athletes undercover? Global and US anti-doping agencies clash over tactics

PARIS : The global and U.S. anti-doping agencies are at odds over undercover tactics used by the American body to try to catch drug cheats, Reuters has learned. 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says U.S. agency USADA broke the global code by letting several athletes it had caught between 2011 and 2014 violating drugs rules go undercover and keep on competing without prosecution in exchange for information on other violators. 

USADA says the tactic is necessary and allowed, and wants to keep using it. WADA says it is against its code and that athletes caught breaking doping rules should not get to line up in races, potentially winning prize money and medals, without first being publicly prosecuted and sanctioned.

The two agencies are also embroiled in dispute over the global system for policing doping in sport, sparked by the case of 23 Chinese swimmers which has cast a shadow over the Paris Olympics.

"WADA is now aware of at least three cases where athletes who had committed serious anti-doping rule violations were allowed to continue to compete for years while they acted as undercover agents for USADA, without it notifying WADA and without there being any provision allowing such a practice under the (global) code or USADA's own rules," WADA said in a statement to Reuters.

The global agency said the three athletes have since retired but declined to name them, citing security concerns in case they faced retaliation. It issued the statement after Reuters asked if it was aware of the practice, having seen speculation about it by sports fans on social media.

The U.S. agency has defended letting drug rule violators compete so they could act as undercover informants, saying in one case such assistance had provided