It was announced yesterday that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of Bloemfontein Laboratory, the only anti-doping laboratory in the continent of Africa located in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The suspension went into effect immediately and will hold until September 30, 2016.
The suspension prohibits the lab from carrying out any activities related to anti-doping, including any analyses of urine and blood samples. Any samples acquired during the suspension will be transported to another WADA-accredited lab so as to ensure continued high quality sample analysis.
According to Article 13.7 of the World Anti-Doping Code the Bloemfontein lab has 21 days after their initial receipt of notice to make an appeal of this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The lab was originally going to begin a six-month-long series of renovations resulting in the transfer of all urine samples to a lab in Doha, Qatar, however with the recent suspension all blood samples will also have to be moved out. WADA will be making regular visits to the lab to ensure that the necessary improvements are being met and that all non-conformities found in its External Quality Assessment Scheme are identified.
If the Bloemfontein laboratory can satisfy all of the WADA Disciplinary Committee’s requirements it can apply for reinstatement before the six months has elapsed.