U.S. anti-doping chief Tygart says WADA is "fox guarding hen house"

Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, speaks during Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigation Seminar in Singapore February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is not an independent body and in its current state cannot police sport as it lacks the powers of a global regulator, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart said on Monday.

Speaking to Reuters during a WADA meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tygart said as long as sports bodies were represented on WADA, the anti-doping organisation could not deliver on its promise to crack down on cheats.

"It is the fox guarding the hen house," Tygart told Reuters when asked whether WADA was independent. "Clearly not. No question about it."

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)