WADA Revokes Approval Of Russian Anti-Doping Laboratory

Olympic Rings Lit at Night, adapted from image at state.gov

(Article text ©2021 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Oct. 9, 2021 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/wada-russian-anti-doping-laboratory/31501230.html)

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has revoked the right of a Russian laboratory to carry out blood sample analysis after it failed to comply with laboratory standards and ethics.

In an October 9 statement, WADA said the National Anti-Doping Laboratory (MSU) in Moscow “remains ineligible to carry out any work related to the analysis of blood samples” in connection with the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) or any other form of anti-doping analysis for WADA-compliant Anti-Doping Organizations.

The Moscow laboratory’s full accreditation was revoked in 2015 after a WADA-commissioned report found evidence of institutionalised doping in Russian athletics.

A year later, WADA authorized the laboratory to analyse ABP to ensure the program’s continuity. However, its right to carry out other anti-doping activities remained revoked.

ABP is designed to monitor different biological components that reveal doping over time.

Last year, WADA provisionally suspended the Moscow laboratory from conducting ABP analysis after it determined that some of the data had been manipulated.

Russia is banned from competing under its flag and with its national anthem at major international sporting events, including next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, as part of sanctions designed to punish Moscow for having provided WADA with doctored laboratory data.

With reporting by Reuters

 

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