WADA suspends certification of Brazilian Doping Control Laboratory – Volleyball news
Quite recently one of the signatories of Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), put a six-month ban on the UFRJ Rio de Janeiro Doping Control Laboratory that has been working in Brazil.
Due to the suspension, the UFJF Lab will not be authorised to conduct the isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) testing on the samples. However, the Rio Laboratory will continue to provide its services for other anti-doping tests in accordance with the
International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). Generally, when a laboratory fails to meet the ISL requirements, it suffers the loss of its accreditation by the WADA and that is what happened to UFRJ lab.
During the six months’ ban, the suspended laboratory will receive the sample but they will be transferred to another WADA-certified laboratory, which has the required IRMS accreditation. In the next run, the World Anti Doping Authority will re-evaluate the
status of the UFJF Laboratory with regards to IRMS testing in the course of the suspension period.
Meanwhile, the Rio lab has the right to appeal WADA’s decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of notice. The Rio was actually suspended on 18th January and it has been six days now but the lab has not appealed in the court yet.
FIVB President Jizhong Wei also spoke in the support of WADA’s act. He stated that the FIVB is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code and completely supports the fight against doping. That is why the International Volleyball Federation provides WADA with
suitable annual support for anti-doping education.
Mr. Wei further added, “In this important battle, however, we cannot afford losing confidence in the analytical results of WADA-accredited laboratories. As much as we need to identify and sanction those who cheat, we must ensure that no athlete is faced
with a false positive. For this reason I am satisfied that, after review of the complete laboratory documentation, the FIVB followed the recommendations of its own experts and decided to ask for an additional analysis prior to sanctioning the athlete.”
Likewise, the FIVB Medical Commission president Dr. Roald Bahr said that WADA will be asked by the International Volleyball Governing Authority to look into the matter and investigate the reason for ambiguous analytical findings. He also said with confidence
that the World Anti-Doping Agency can better take care of the whole matter.
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