In a complicated ramp-up to the Olympic Games due to political tensions, overspending, security risks, health concerns and the never-ending fight against doping in sports, the IOC-funded International Testing Agency will again be leading the efforts towards guaranteeing a level playing field.

The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency warned that it would “never” share its information regarding the athletes that tested positive in recent Olympic Games after US Congress demanded details of the probe be made public. Tensions between American officials, the Asian country and WADA keep mounting.

The doping scandal that hit the World Anti-Doping agency last April involving 23 Chinese athletes who failed repeated drug tests, as reported by The New York Times, keeps snowballing with the latest announcement by the Asian superpower.

The Chinese anti-doping agency followed the global watchdog’s lead on Friday and called out the American newspaper on Monday, deeming its follow-up reporting of the 23 swimmers’ positive test results from 2020 a “violation of media ethics”.

With the Olympics less than three months away and the aftermath of the Chinese doping scandal still lingering, worldwide suspicions about an uneven playing field won’t die down; but it’s in the United States, where the news broke, that the World Anti-Doping Agency faces the biggest pushback.

On 29 April, the AIPS Centenary Congress in Santa Susanna, Spain, will bring together editors in chief of top sports media with experts from UNESCO to discuss AI in sports journalism.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has faced fierce backlash over its handling of positive test results from China's swimming team ahead of the 2021 Olympic Games. Accusations of a cover-up by national associations, "fake news" dismissals by China and denial of any double standard by the global watchdog ensued.

The NY Times and ARD were the first to report on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s alleged mishandling of positive doping tests from Chinese swimmers before Tokyo 2021. Then came harsh pushback by the international governing body. Mounting uproar followed from USADA, Global Athlete and now Germany.

Nearly half the Chinese Swimming Team was able to compete in the Tokyo Games despite previously testing positive for a banned substance, the NY Times reported on Saturday. Athletes allegedly benefited from a cover-up by local officials and lack of intervention from the international governing body.