Any country wishing to participate in or host an international sporting event must comply with the anti-doping code; this is a rule for all organisers and participants.

Apart from the fact that some countries, such as the United States, have their own doping rules (and for some sports, such as basketball, where the NBA has different rules to FIBA), Olympic standards must be strictly adhered to. Therefore, if they want to participate in the Olympic Games, they have to adapt to the "Olympic world" in addition to their own rules used in daily competition.

In the case of anti-doping rules, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has its own rules which do not always coincide with those of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). These rules have to be adapted for each competition under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

In 2020, the "Rodchenkov Act" was passed in the United States, extending the jurisdiction of US law to any international sports competition involving US athletes or having financial links with the United States.

This jurisdiction extends beyond sport to include criminal sanctions. Under this law, the world's leading sporting power can impose fines of up to one million dollars and imprisonment of up to 10 years on anyone involved in the use of banned substances. It even allows the United States to extradite athletes or anyone else who violates the Rodchenkov Act to countries where doping is not even a crime.

Legally, this is far removed from international public law (its application would violate the sovereignty of other countries) and has been criticised on several occasions, including by Witold Banka, President of WADA. He stated, "No nation has ever asserted its criminal jurisdiction over doping offences committed outside its borders, and for good reason. It opens the door for other countries to adopt similar legislation and expose US citizens and sports organisations to extraterritorial jurisdiction and similar criminal sanctions that can be used for political purposes or to discriminate against certain nationalities".

The importance of having uniform criteria and a single international doping code for international competitions is therefore paramount. The same rules for everyone (after approval and delegation by each country), regardless of the host country or the nationality of the athletes.

Months ago, controversy erupted over the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) weeks before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but were cleared after a Chinese investigation claimed their athletes had been accidentally exposed to the drug through contamination and were allowed to compete in Tokyo.

In response, USADA accused the global body of a cover-up and asked the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate how Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) weeks before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will be held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For now, USADA is standing firm despite two independent investigations, one by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier into WADA's handling of the case and another by World Aquatics, which concluded there was no mismanagement or cover-up.

The IOC has always supported WADA and did not get involved in the US threat to launch its own investigation in this case. Instead, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) has made its position clear. Last Friday, they expressed concern about sending officials to the United States for fear of being arrested.

In this context of turmoil among organisations committed to clean and fair sports competition, WADA believes that the Rodchenkov Act is national legislation that is not in line with the World Anti-Doping Codeand allows US authorities to reopen cases that have already been decided.

With this in mind, Canadian lawyer and IOC member Dick Pound, known for his anti-doping efforts, told Reuters on Tuesday: "This legislation is not in line with the anti-doping code.

"I suspect that one of the steps that WADA will take at this point is to refer this particular issue to the Compliance Review Committee. I suspect that if or when there is a hearing on this, they will declare the United States non-compliant," warned the former IOC vice-president, who had to deal with the case of his compatriot Ben Johnson, who tested positive in the 100 metres at Seoul in 1988.

"That would mean that they could not host the Olympic Games," he told Reuters, the man behind the creation of WADA in 1999 and its first president.

If the Canadian's warning comes true, the United States could lose the LA28 Games and possibly the 2034 Winter Games, as continuing to investigate the 23 Chinese swimmers would be an overstep and violation of the anti-doping code, which could logically lead to sanctions, including expulsion and the inability to host Olympic Games.

While many believe it is unlikely that the United States will be stripped of Los Angeles 2028 due to numerous existing contracts, the law came into effect after the venue was awarded in 2017. If there is a significant breach of the code, the contract could be invalidated through the fault of the United States.

Time will tell what will ultimately happen with LA28, where the four-year lead-up to the 34th modern Olympic Games (and the difficulty of changing venues abruptly) works in the organisers' favour. However, the situation for Salt Lake City-Utah as host of the 2034 Winter Olympics is less clear, not only because it has yet to be officially awarded (although an announcement is expected in Paris next week), but also because many venues could enter a new bidding process with ten years to go.