WADA suspends Rio 2016 drug laboratory
Rio de Janeiro, June 25 (IANS) The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the license of a drug laboratory slated to test athletes during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August.
In a statement on its website on Friday, WADA said the decision was based on the facility’s “non-conformity” with its international standards, reports Xinhua.
The Brazilian doping control laboratory, or LBCD, as it is known, is expected to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
An LBCD spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
The ban, which took effect on June 22, precludes the laboratory from conducting blood and urine samples.
WADA did not provide details of the laboratory’s problems and it was unclear if the decision could be overturned in time for the Olympic opening ceremony on August 5.
“(We) will work closely with the Rio laboratory to resolve the identified issue,” WADA’s incoming director general Olivier Niggli said in the statement.
The Montreal-based body said that samples at LBCD would be transported for testing at an accredited laboratory in another country.
LBCD was also stripped of its WADA accreditation before the 2014 football World Cup in Brazil. The suspension was lifted in May last year after the laboratory invested $60 million to upgrade equipment and train staff.
