WADA suspends Mexico laboratory for non-compliance

(Reuters) – Mexico’s anti-doping laboratory has had its accreditation suspended for up to six months for failing to comply with international standards, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The suspension of the Laboratorio Nacional de Prevencion y Control del Dopaje comes just 10 days after WADA announced the laboratory in Qatar, host country of the 2022 soccer World Cup, had been suspended for four months.

The suspension, which took effect on Nov. 23, prohibits the Mexico lab from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

The laboratory may apply for reinstatement prior to the expiry of the six-month suspension period.

During the ban, samples must be sent to another WADA-accredited laboratory, “ensuring that athletes can have full confidence in continued high quality sample analysis and the wider anti-doping system.”

WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping laboratories according to criteria set by the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL).

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)