White House officials fear that the 2034 Winter Olympics, which were awarded to Salt Lake City in July, could be taken away as a punishment of the United States.

A war of words that has gone on for months became more substantive when the United States did not make its $3.6 million payment before a Dec. 31 deadline.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is facing a crisis after the US government defaulted on a $3.6m (€3.5m) contribution to the global sport watchdog’s annual budget.

The U.S. government did not pay the more than $3.6 million due to the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2024, making good on a long-running threat anchored in unhappiness with the global watchdog's handling of cases involving Chinese swimmers and others.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency has welcomed the decision of their country's government to withhold a payment of 3.6million US dollars (£2.9m) to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The United States has withheld 2024 dues payments to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy told Reuters on Wednesday, calling for reforms to the global sport watchdog.

The American anti-doping agency has been heavily critical of the world body following the incident, which occurred before the Tokyo Olympics.