(Reuters) – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Friday that it had failed in its bid to convince Mexican authorities to keep open the country’s accredited anti-doping laboratory.
The global anti-doping body said the Laboratorio Nacional de Prevencion y Control del Dopaje ceased operations on Nov. 15 last year.
“This announcement follows weeks of sustained efforts by the agency to inform the Mexican public authorities of the benefits of maintaining an accredited lab in Mexico,” WADA said in a statement.
WADA said the laboratory would no longer conduct anti-doping analyses of urine and blood and that the existing samples stored there had been transferred to other accredited facilities where necessary.
There are around 30 laboratories around the world which are accredited by WADA to carry out the scientific analysis for doping control.
The Mexico City lab ran into trouble in 2016 when it had its accreditation revoked by WADA and was prohibited from carrying out any anti-doping activities after failing to comply with international standards.
It was reinstated the following year with WADA satisfied that the lab had addressed issues.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
