SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Just weeks before the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the authority of a revamped drug testing laboratory in Rio de Janeiro [reuters.com]:

The lab at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro said on Friday that it expected its operations would return to normal in July after a technical visit from WADA, ahead of the start of the games on Aug. 5. Still, the suspension adds to concerns about Rio's readiness to host the global sporting event as public services suffer amid a crisis in state finances. Technical errors leading to false positives were likely the cause of the suspension, a source familiar with the decision said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"The suspension will only be lifted by WADA when the laboratory is operating optimally," Olivier Niggli, the incoming director general of the agency, said in a statement.

[...] WADA's decision is the latest black eye for the Rio anti-doping lab, after a lack of credentials forced testing for the 2014 World Cup to take place in Switzerland. With an eye on the Olympics, Brazil invested 188 million reais ($56 million) in new installations and equipment for the lab, which was recertified by WADA last year. The government also rushed through an executive order in March updating Brazil's doping laws to comply with international standards.

Also at The Atlantic [theatlantic.com] and NYT [nytimes.com].

In other doping news, the U.S. National Football League has announced [nfl.com] that it will "interview" players named in an Al-Jazeera America documentary on performance-enhancing drug use [aljazeera.com]... with the exception of the retired player Peyton Manning. The veracity of the Al-Jazeera report is disputed [timesonline.com] since it relies on recanted claims.

Original Submission