Less than five months before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency announced late Monday that it had suspended the license of the only accredited anti-doping laboratory in Africa.
WADA mentioned that the license of the laboratory in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was suspended for a maximum period of six months due to numerous errors in the method of screening athletes’ samples for steroids.
Bloemfontein’s samples must now “be transported securely to another WADA-approved laboratory”, the organization announced.
“This decision was taken to ensure that the screening process meets the highest quality criteria, which helps preserve athletes’ confidence in the process and the integrity of the anti-doping system,” said WADA, whose offices are located in Montreal.
Among the 30 laboratories approved by WADA around the world, those located closest to South Africa are in Qatar – a distance of 6,600 km separates Bloemfontein from Doha -, in India, in Portugal, in Spain and Turkey.
Collecting samples from athletes at their training sites, as well as transporting them over long distances to approved laboratories, increases the risk that the samples will be of lower quality and unusable for anti-doping tests.
These laboratories could also be used to carry out anti-doping tests on possible samples which will be taken from athletes in Africa, in particular those who will be part of the international anti-doping program which will be launched at the dawn of the Paris Olympic Games.
The South African anti-doping laboratory was sanctioned for the first time in September for irregularities in the screening process.
“Numerous irregularities” were again noted at the Bloemfontein laboratory last month by a group of experts which advises WADA.
The suspension of the Bloemfontein laboratory’s license has been in effect since last Friday, but it can be lifted at any time within the next six months if the laboratory can demonstrate that it meets the highest quality standards for anti-doping tests .