After a tough leadup to the Paris Games with the reporting by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD that the global watchdog mishandled the positive tests from 23 athletes from the Asian country prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the representative from the parliamentary group in the German Bundestag called for the resignation of Banka, which he accused of enabling the possible cover-ups of the suspected doping cases.

"Trust in WADA has been severely shaken by the very negligent handling of the doping scandal in China," Mayer said, emphasising the need for urgent reform. "I am personally convinced that WADA needs a fresh start after the Summer Olympics in Paris because if everything remains as it is now, there will no longer be any trust in the independent World Anti-Doping Agency."

The calls for a significant shakeup within the international policing body have been rising since the news broke in April, especially from the United States Anti-Doping Agency and its boss and frequent WADA critic, Travis Tygart. American athlete-led pressure groups and even politicians haven’t been shy about voicing their discontent either, but concerns have been raised within Europe as well, and Mayer’s interview is just the latest example.

"I have the impression that President Banka is quite frankly not the right man to lead WADA to where it belongs. Namely into a stronger, independent role that is also more detached from the IOC, but also more independent from China," the Bavarian politician stated.

After the Times’ and ARD’s research revealed that the Chinese swimmers had tested positive for trimetazidine at a national competition in 2021, the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency did not issue a ban and WADA accepted the explanation that the athletes had ingested the drug “through food contamination” from a hotel kitchen, allowing them to compete in Tokyo and claim medals for the Asian country.

According to Mayer, said case and others that were revealed during the leadup to the Paris Games are "possibly just the tip of the iceberg".

The CSU sports spokesperson explained "I would not have thought it possible, especially after this revealed incident in 2021, that WADA would literally put the matter to bed and go back to business as usual. That's not a serious style. I believe that a reform process is needed.”

Suspicions over an alleged cover-up and bias towards China have been rampant, with high-profile athletes like American Katie Ledecky stepping in as global backlash has intensified over the past months, even forcing WADA to conduct an independent investigation through Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier.

Back in Paris, IOC spokesman Mark Adams deflected questions regarding the case during the organisation’s daily Olympics briefing. “There was an interim report that found that there was no bias and grounds for not referring to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We offer our full support to WADA as the global agency as it is needed to make sure that procedures are being carried out throughout the world,” he stated.  “In that interim report, the investigative lawyer involved who worked with other independent experts said the findings would be along those lines. Those discussions with WADA and our other stakeholders will continue.”