The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of its laboratory in Bucharest, Romania, that was provisionally suspended in November following violations of the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). The organization did not specify what the violations were, but referred to a “number of non-conformities.”
The suspension will last a minimum of six months, back-dated to the initial provisional suspension. In that time, the lab is prohibited from carrying out any analysis of blood and urine samples, and any other anti-doping activities. The lab has 21 days to appeal the ruling, and can also regain accreditation sooner than six months if all violations are corrected.
Any samples currently in possession of the lab that are yet to be analyzed or are in the process of analysis will be moved to a WADA-accredited lab.
According to WADA’s February 2018 list of accredited laboratories, Bucharest joins the labs in Bogota, Colombia, and Lisbon, Portugal, in their current suspensions.
Bucharest will host the 2018 CEV European Champions League tournament from May 5th-6th.
Does this mean testing at Final 4 wont be held in Bucharest? Big blow for the city, which was excited for hosting such an important event.
Yep – it will have to be exported to another lab. Germany is a probability.