The IOC’s veiled threat against the United States is all bark, no bite

PARIS — Credit to Gene Sykes of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee for not breaking out in a cackle of laughter as he defended a controversial clause in the agreement between Salt Lake City and the International Olympic Committee over the hosting of the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The amendment, which was agreed to here on Wednesday, allows for the IOC to “terminate” the contract and thus pull the hosting bid “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 world anti-doping code is hindered or undermined.”

WADA is often seen as a corrupt and ineffective organization whose “supreme authority” deserves not even partial, let alone full, respect from anyone. Its standard operating procedure tends to be twisting itself into knots to defend drug cheats.

Its battle with the United States is basically that our own anti-doping agency — USADA — is much stricter and often criticizes WADA for being weak and kowtowing to the Russians and, most recently, the Chinese.

It’s this most recent criticism and subsequent U.S. government investigations into a Chinese doping scandal that prompted the IOC to add the amendment to the Salt Lake City bid contract. The language of the amendment makes the IOC seem like it is tough. It isn’t.

“I do not believe that amendment will come into focus,” Sykes said.

Technically, the IOC could pull the Salt Lake City bid if the Americans do not bow to WADA — thus costing billions in investment and infrastructure.

Yet, it is worth remembering that the IOC cares solely about money; gladly cuddling up with totalitarian regimes and various dictators if there is a buck to be made.

And there are lots of bucks to be made in America, both in Utah in 2034 and Los Angeles for the Summer Games in 2028.

“Please recognize how much the IOC wants the United States to play the role we’re playing,” Sykes said, as diplomatically as possible. “How important it is for the IOC to have Salt Lake City be the host in 2034, how prepared Salt Lake will be and how unique it is. Likewise Los Angeles.”

In other words, sure, maybe the optics in the contract language aren’t great, but the IOC isn’t daring to mess with America, or any other wealthy country.

“We obviously, together with Salt Lake City, agreed to sign the host city contract with the amendment,” Sykes said. “I have very high confidence [the] amendment will never be enacted.”

IOC members are worried about a U.S. law that allows for the FBI to investigate international doping scandals. Obviously the USOPC has no jurisdiction over that — “I’m certainly not in position to speculate about the actions of the FBI or the U.S. government.”

But essentially, even if the FBI did start issuing subpoenas, the likelihood of a bid being pulled is close to zero, or at least close enough that no one is concerned.

The IOC is just all bark. It let everyone get away with everything.

The chief threat to the IOC is that it is almost out of countries that can afford or are willing to even host the Olympics. As such, the IOC is doubling up. France is home to these Paris Games as well as the Winter Olympics in 2030. The U.S. has the Summer Olympics of 2028 and Winter of 2034. Beijing hosted both the Summer Games in 2008 and Winter Games in 2022 … even though it doesn’t snow there.

This is a desperate, spineless organization; too cowardly to ever dare challenge the United States on anything and too greedy to ever lose access to its wealth.

The contract is just words on a page. No one is enforcing anything. Ever. Maybe the U.S. shouldn’t have placated such nonsense, but deep down it knows it is just nonsense.