WADA Suspends African Continent’s Only Anti-Doping Laboratory

The only accredited doping control laboratory on the African continent, located in Bloemfontein, South Africa, has had its accreditation suspended by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, for failure to meet WADA standards.  The Bloemfontein Laboratory shall be shut down until September 30^th, after which it may apply for reinstatement with WADA.

The Bloemfontein lab has 21 days to appeal the suspension to the Court of Arbitration of Sport from the day it was given its suspension ruling.  In the meantime, all samples that are currently being held at Bloemfontein will be transferred to another WADA-accredited laboratory “ensuring that athletes can have full confidence in continued high quality sample analysis and the wider anti-doping system.”

The lab in Bloemfontein was originally going to undergo its own six-month-long series of renovations beginning in April of this year, during which time all urine samples held in Bloemfontein would be transferred to Doha, Qatar, while blood samples would remain in the lab.  However, due to the suspension, all blood samples must also be transferred out of Bloemfontein.

The suspension of the Bloemfontein facility is the latest in a series of suspensions.  Last month a lab in Beijing, China was suspended, as was a lab in Lisbon, Portugal.  In November of 2015 the accreditation of a lab in Moscow was revoked due to prolonged scandal and corruption. While Russia’s suspension came as the result of a direct WADA investigation into systematic doping, no such allegations of corruption regarding the South African anti-doping program have been made publicly. The last-known doping suspension of a South African swimmer is the case of Warren Scott Karsten, a former National medalist for the country.

While Bloemfontein is upgrading its facilities WADA will make regular visits to ensure the necessary improvements are being met.  Also during this time, the laboratory will identify all non-conformities that are found in its External Quality Assessment Scheme, and any other non-conformities found during WADA on-site visits.  If the Bloemfontein laboratory satisfies the requirements of the WADA Disciplinary Committee, it may apply for reinstatement before September 30^th.