World Anti-Doping Agency suspends Madrid lab’s accreditation

In this file photo, Craig Reedie, second from left, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, (WADA), listens to a question during a news conference following a meeting in which WADA leadership voted to declare Russia’s anti-doping operation out of compliance, in Colorado Springs. AP

MADRID — The World Anti-Doping Agency has suspended the accreditation of the official testing laboratory in Madrid.

WADA confirmed the suspension in a statement late Monday (Tuesday Manila time), saying it was a direct result of a decision on March 19 to declare the Spanish anti-doping agency, AEPSAD, non-compliant.

The suspension prohibits the Madrid lab from conducting any WADA-related anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

The Madrid lab could have maintained accreditation if, in the year before the AEPSAD had been declared non-compliant, at least 60 percent of samples analyzed were provided by anti-doping organizations outside of Spain. Evidence showed 69 percent of samples received in the year to March 19 were from AEPSAD.

The official anti-doping lab in Barcelona has maintained its WADA accreditation.