CELAD, Spain’s anti-doping agency, announced Wednesday that Olympic swimmer Carlos Peralta will take over as the organization’s general director. The Governing Council, the highest anti-doping authority in Spain, made the appointment as Peralta takes over from Silvia Calzón, who departs the post after less than a year to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s cabinet.
Peralta raced for Spain at the 2016 Olympics in the 200-meter butterfly, made finals at the 2014 and 2016 European Championships, and is a 21x Spanish champion, giving him experience in sport at the highest level.
In addition to his athletic experience, Peralta’s extensive resume in medicine made him an attractive candidate for the job. He graduated with a degree in medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid and holds three master’s degrees—one in health management and planning, one in hospital and health service management, and another in bioethics. In April, Peralta began working with CELAD as Director of the Department of Anti-Doping Prevention Policies in Sport.
José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, president of the CELAD governing council, said Peralta’s appointment represents “a commitment to the continuity of the management model implemented over these months by Silvia Calzón,” as he serves as the seventh head of the Spanish anti-doping agency since its creation in 2008.
Peralta will have his hands full in the new role, as Inside The Games reports the Spanish anti-doping agency is still facing several outstanding issues, namely the crisis surrounding previous director José Luis Terreros “who was dismissed after the High Sports Council referred alleged irregularities (unresolved positive cases) during his tenure to the public prosecutor,” which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) threatened sanctions over.
Spain has been the site of multiple major doping violations—not just by Spaniards—since the 1990s. The most infamous is Operation Puerto, which began in 2006, dismantled a doping ring that involved athletes of multiple nationalities and contributed to doping’s inclusion in the Spanish penal code.
In the press release announcing Peralta as the new general director, CELAD said that it had strengthened its commitment to fighting anti-doping in recent months by testing athletes more extensively and taking steps to meet objectives set by WADA.
