© Copyright – 2020 – Athletics Illustrated
On Tuesday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), renewed the suspension of the National Dope Testing Laboratory located in the Indian capital New Delhi. Their accreditation is suspended for the second time for six months. The decision was made after the lab was unable to correct their non-compliance of international standards.
The lab was first suspended in August 2019. One of the key points of contention was in relation to the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) analytical method, which helps to locate the chemical and biological origin of a substance in a given sample.
In February 2020, WADA had started disciplinary proceedings against NDTL. The resulting suspension will be revisited in January 2021. WADA set the suspension to begin on July 17.
WADA recommended disciplinary proceedings against the lab once the initial suspension elapsed in February 2020.
Currently, there are 42 ineligible Indian athletes due to missing doping tests three times within a 12-month period, testing positive for EPO as well as various branded anabolic steroids.
India is behind only Kenya with approximately 54 and Russia with its national ban in having the most ineligible athletes.
