House Members React To IOC's Demand For Olympic Organizers To Fight Federal Investigation

It was pretty much a given that Salt Lake City would be selected as the host city for the 2034 Winter Olympics, making it a two-time host of the Games after it first hosted in 2004.

What was less expected was the unusual condition that the IOC and its president Thomas Bach appear to have tacked onto the deal. 

The IOC reportedly included a clause in Salt Lake City's contract to host the game that said that local officials and Olympic organizers — including Utah Governor Spencer Cox — need to make a push toward ending a federal investigation into a possible cover-up involving the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and several Chinese swimmers who failed doping tests but were permitted to compete.

Failure to meet it could reportedly put hosting the games in Salt Lake City at risk.

This news did not sit well with the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. The committee's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee which recently held hearings on this exact issue thanks to concerns over how anti-doping measures would be implemented in the run-up to the Paris Olympics.

"It speaks volumes that the IOC would demand a one-sided contract condition to protect WADA rather than work together to ensure it is fulfilling its mission to protect clean sport," Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) said in a joint statement. 

"The eyes of the world are about to turn toward the Paris Olympics where athletes should be able to compete on a level playing field, but unfortunately these reports cast further doubt on WADA." 

 US Rep. Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) speaks with legendary Olympic swimmer Michale Phelps and his wife Nicole Johnson Phelps during a House Energy And Commerce Committee anti-doping hearing in June. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Associated Press, the IOC President would prefer to have one agency handling these Olympic doping cases, but, if there are concerns over how those are — or aren't — being handled you can understand why many feel there are some questions that need answering.