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The Moscow Laboratory infamous for apparently having its data tampered with and noteworthy as it was central in the systematic doping scandal leading up to the All Russia Athletics Federation ban is now provisionally suspended.
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced on Wednesday via a statement on their website that the suspension is pending formal disciplinary action.
“The provisional suspension prohibits the Moscow Laboratory from carrying out any work related to the analysis of blood samples in connection with the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) program and will remain in place pending disciplinary proceedings to be carried out by an independent Disciplinary Committee.”
According to WADA, on Tuesday, January 21, the WADA Laboratory Expert Group (LabEG) made a recommendation to the Chair of the Executive Committee (ExCo), Wiold Barika, to impost a provisional suspension.
WADA took this step in response to the alleged Dec. 9, 2019 data tampering fiasco.
After several delays by the Russians, WADA was permitted to enter the lab only to discover that the athlete data that was to be located on the Laboratory computers had been manipulated – declared a Code of Ethics violation.
Their accreditation was revoked originally back in 2015 when the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was exposed a non-compliant.
“According to the ISL, WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories or approving them for ABP analysis only, thereby ensuring that they maintain the highest quality standards. This monitoring process is conducted in conjunction with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assessment by independent national accreditation bodies that are full members of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC),” the statement reads.
