China launches investigation into WADA drug allegations

Beijing: China will investigate claims that virtually all the raw materials used to produce illegal performance-enhancing drugs come from the country, even if they have serious reservations about their accuracy, state media said on Tuesday. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director general David Howman told Reuters in an interview last week that “ninety-nine percent” of the materials used by criminal gangs around the world to make the drugs were emanating from China. [caption id=“attachment_631605” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “We are shocked at Mr. Howman’s comment,” Jiang Zhixue, the head of anti-doping at China’s sports ministry, told the official Xinhua news agency. “We are wondering where this 99 percent came from and what is his evidence. We have asked for a more detailed explanation from WADA.” Jiang said the probe would require coordination from various ministries as had happened in a crackdown on the manufacture and sale of banned performance-enhancing substances in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China’s record on doping at elite levels of sport improved markedly after Beijing won the right to hold the 2008 Games, a far cry from the 1990s when the country’s rise to sporting superpower was accompanied by regular scandals. Reuters