Olympics-U.S. Rodchenkov act jeopardises safety of Olympic movement, says Gasol

By Karolos Grohmann

PARIS (Reuters) - A United States law on anti-doping at the heart of a dispute with the IOC jeopardises the safety of the Olympic movement and must be addressed after the country was awarded the 2034 Winter Games, twice NBA champion and IOC member Pau Gasol said Friday.

The Rodchenkov Act legislation passed in 2020 extends U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction to any international sporting competitions that involve American athletes or have financial connections to the U.S..

It was used to launch a U.S. Department of Justice investigation recently into 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a banned substance in China months before the Tokyo 2021 Olympics but were cleared by Chinese authorities, citing contamination.

"There's a big issue when it comes to the ... Rodchenkov Act, and how that law has passed through Congress and the effect it could have in international sports," Spaniard Gasol told a press conference.

"The potential ability for U.S. authorities to detain people potentially also, from my understanding, outside of U.S. soil ... so this jeopardises the safety of officials and people in the Olympic movement, in the sports movement."

The International Olympic Committee awarded Salt Lake City the 2034 Winter Games in July but said in an amendment it could terminate the host contract "in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the anti-doping code is hindered or undermined."

The World Anti-Doping Agency is embroiled in a fierce row with its U.S equivalent USADA, which has publicly accused the global body of a cover-up over its handling of the case of the 23 Chinese swimmers.

WADA, which has warned that the dispute could ostracise the U.S. in global sports and doping matters if it took unilateral action, accepted the findings of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency that the swimmers were inadvertently exposed to the drug TMZ through contamination at a hotel they stayed in.

Some of those swimmers went on to win Olympic medals.

"So this has to be addressed and this has to be resolved," Gasol added. "We believe Salt Lake City and the United States Olympic Committee can help solve the issue for the good of the Olympic movement.

"It might not be something that any of us wanted Salt Lake City ... to deal with. But we acknowledge that they can be helpful."

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken ferris)