The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is considering rewriting its rules to try barring all U.S. government officials — including President Donald Trump — from attending the L.A. Olympics in 2028, in a move that could also have implications for the FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by the U.S. this summer, reports the Associated Press.

The proposal, on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting of the drug-fighting watchdog’s executive committee, is the latest manoeuvre to come out of a years-long refusal of the U.S. government to pay its annual dues to WADA.

The refusal is part of the U.S. government’s unanimous, bipartisan protest of the agency’s handling of doping cases, including one involving Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete in the 2021 Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance.

The Associated Press learned of the agenda item through correspondence it obtained between WADA and European officials involved in the agency’s decision-making. Two others with knowledge of the agenda confirmed the existence of the rules proposal with AP; they were not authorised to speak publicly about the agenda, which has not been released publicly.

WADA spokesperson James Fitzgerald said that “there is nothing new here,” noting that discussions related to the issue of what to do about governments withholding funding have been ongoing since 2020 and aren’t directly related to the U.S. The proposal was, in fact, first raised in 2024, when U.S. authorities successfully lobbied for its rejection. The U.S. has since lost its seat on the executive committee.

“In spite of WADA’s increasing threats, we continue to stand firm in our demand for accountability and transparency from WADA to ensure fair competition in sport,” said Sara Carter, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The rule, if passed, would be mostly symbolic, given the limits an international sports federation has on the leader of a country attending events inside their own borders.

“I have never heard of a $50-million-budget Swiss foundation being able to enforce a rule to, for example, prevent the United States president from going anywhere,” said Carter’s predecessor at ONDCP, Rahul Gupta, who was on the WADA executive committee two years ago and led the movement to reject the proposal.

“How are you going to enforce it? Are they going to post a red notice from Interpol? It’s ludicrous. It’s clear they have not thought this through.”