Portugal's anti-doping lab loses official status

Published Oct. 25, 2018 12:14 p.m. ET

MONTREAL (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency says Portugal's only anti-doping laboratory has lost its right to perform tests after failing short of international standards.

WADA suspended the laboratory's accreditation in 2016 and has now revoked it completely.

WADA says it was unhappy with the results of an inspection "to ensure the full reliability and accuracy of anti-doping analyses and the accurate reporting of results," but didn't give further details.

Since a series of WADA investigations found a Moscow laboratory was covering up for Russian athletes, WADA has stepped up inspections elsewhere. The process has generally focused on technical shortcomings rather than corruption.

Labs in Kazakhstan and South Africa had their accreditations revoked last year, while labs in Paris and Madrid were suspended and later reinstated.