World Anti Doping body WADA has suspended the accreditation of one of the testing laboratories in the 2016 Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro.
There has been no reason given for the suspension apart from WADA stating that the laboratory had not met the International Standard for Laboratories.
The LADETEC laboratory can appeal the decision via the court of arbitration but must lodge its appeal within 21 days.
With the World Cup back in South America for the first time since 1978 this news is not good, especially as the World Cup is being hosted by Brazil.
Brazilian football has never been under any suspicion of doping, but the 1978 World Cup had more than its fair share of accusations.
in 2003 during a French radio phone-in on military dictatorships a caller – claiming to be a former French football international – who was deliberately muffling his voice claimed he’d seen “several high profile Argentine players take a couple of blue pills” prior to the kick-off between France and the host nation, Argentina. The caller then stated “you could hear them screaming in their dressing room and they had to warm down for two hours after the match.” According to the caller FIFA officials, also excused Argentine players the compulsory drugs test after the game. “A very well-known Argentine player was on the list to have his test but when the FIFA guy walked in an Argentine official gave him an envelope and he just walked off.” Allegedly when two French players protested, they were informed by the FIFA official, “Come on, you know the score around here.”
Then as respected football author Simon Kuper wrote an unnamed source asserted that one of the Argentine player’s urine-based drug tests yielded positive results for pregnancy.
This is unlikely to be repeated in this modern era of technology and improved drug testing, and Brazil would definitely not want any such accusations, but some who remember the 1978 World Cup are watching these developments with great interest.
