Wada accepted Chinese authorities' explanation that the cause of the incident was food contamination at the hotel where he was staying, so the swimmers were not suspended or sanctioned.
Usada Director Travis Tygart called the situation a “possible cover-up” because the positive test was not made public at the time.
“On behalf of Mr. Wada, I am deeply disappointed and disgusted by Mr. Usada's deliberate lies and distortions, including that Mr. Wada has covered up the Chinese doping incident.'' said Pound, a lawyer who was the company's first president but retired in 2019. He said this at the end of 2020.
“These untruthful accusations have the sole purpose of intentionally tarnishing Wada’s reputation and undermining the global trust it has built since its creation a quarter of a century ago to lead the international fight against Wada. Doping in Sports.
“Any allegation that Mr. Wada has somehow improperly favored China is completely false. Wada applies the World Anti-Doping Code and related standards in an impartial manner.”
Pound said Wada's past actions in response to the Russian doping scandal prove that “superpowers are treated like any other country.”
The former swimmer and current honorary member of the International Olympic Committee suggested there may be a political dimension to Usada's actions.
“Mr. Usada is funded by the U.S. government,” he said. “That government currently has a cold relationship with the Chinese government. Is there something to do with it?”
Mr Wada called for an independent prosecutor to investigate the incident and publish a report, but Mr Pound urged him to proceed further.
“My proposal has two elements,” he said, addressing WADA President Witold Banka directly. “First, we will wait for the independent investigator's report, and then we will begin legal proceedings to seek substantial damages from Mr. Usada, as there will be serious consequences for his outrageous conduct.”
Tygart responded to Pound's comments in an email to AFP.
“Wada's founding president made a significant contribution to establishing Wada in the firm's early years, but Wada has changed dramatically in the years since his retirement,'' the email said.
“Although he has not served as President Wada for many years, the current leadership’s use of him in this way shows that they are defaulting to smoke and mirrors instead of transparency to distract from the truth. It shows that we will do whatever it takes to do so.”
Mr Pound noted that China had filed a lawsuit against Mr Wada, saying he had not profited from the situation and said “nothing is being hidden”.
“The Chinese investigation reached the conclusion of contamination, not doping. The evidence pointed firmly in that direction. No one pointed to doping,” he said.
Vanka said he had been attacked before by Russian officials, who also targeted Rabbit.
“There are gaps in the harmonization of anti-doping policies around the world, including in the United States, where the majority of unsubstantiated and defamatory attacks originate,” Banka said.
“In the United States, 90% of athletes in professional leagues and college sports do not compete under the World Anti-Doping Code.
“Based on the data we have available, 31 percent of U.S. athletes under the regulations were not adequately tested in the 12 months prior to the Tokyo Games.”
Tygart issued a statement following the meeting, which included a number of statements supporting Wada.
It reads, “As expected, Wada is much better at circling the wagon than actually being invisible.” “The fact is that the Wada leaders violated their own rules by not at least not discovering the violation or publicizing the incident.
“Today's meeting further demonstrated that the global anti-doping system remains broken and in need of urgent reform. We call on Mr. Wada to take real action, not threats or attacks. We call on them to take the lead and provide real answers by producing a complete China file for the world to assess.”
