The World Anti-Doping Agency has suspended Africa’s only accredited doping laboratory that is located in South Africa for six months.
The anti-doping regulatory body found the laboratory in Bloemfontein guilty of non-conformities with international standard and non-conformities with technical documents and the continued Analytical Testing Restriction (ATR), among other issues.
Back in September 2023, WADA restricted the South African laboratory from any analytical testing which is specific to Gas Chromatography/Combustion/Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analytical method.
This won’t be the first sanction imposed on the Bloemfontein facility as it was previously suspended for five months in May 2016 for not meeting WADA standards.
The African laboratory is no longer permitted to conduct anti-doping activities which include analyses of urine and blood samples during the suspension while samples that have been collected but not yet analysed will be sent to another WADA-accredited laboratory in another continent.
However, there is hope for the South African laboratory to resume activities before the end of the suspension if they address all non-confirmities in time. On the other hand, the suspension might be increased by another six months if nothing is done.
