Spanish anti-doping in the spotlight of WADA: "it's unacceptable"

The Spanish anti-doping agency receives strong criticism from the World Anti-Doping Agency after the concealment of some positive results from athletes or the failure to process in due time a series of files corresponding to adverse results in controls came to light. WADA, in turn, defends itself by rejecting any responsibility in the face of voices accusing this body of turning a blind eye.

The fight against doping in Spain in question

A few weeks ago, the dubious practices of CELAD, the Spanish Commission for Anti-Doping in Sport, came to light, which was accused of playing at its convenience with the cases of positive controls that came to its hands. When a positive was detected, the corresponding file was opened but, however, these were not processed, being forgotten in a drawer without the sanction being imposed even though it was communicated to the affected party.

Now, the World Anti-Doping Agency, after learning of these practices, has spoken out strongly criticizing the Spanish body's actions while trying to shake off any responsibility towards those who accuse them of being aware of the situation and looking the other way.

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The president of WADA, Witold Banka explained that they were aware of the deep-rooted problems in the Spanish anti-doping fight while expressing disappointment with the lack of cooperation from CELAD to improve surveillance against doping. In any case, Banka pointed out that "The fact that there are positive cases that have not been dealt with in time, despite regular monitoring by WADA, is unacceptable"

According to the president of WADA, one of the functions of this body is to ensure that the different agencies of each country adequately fulfill their mission. In fact, during 2023 it was forced to withdraw three cases from CELAD and refer them to international federations in addition to pressuring in two other cases for the Spanish Anti-Doping Commission to pronounce itself.

WADA does not hide that it was aware of the existence of problems in CELAD related to controls and the management of their results, so much so that it sent the Spanish entity a report of corrective measures that needed to be addressed urgently.

Apart from that, WADA also raises its doubts about how the Spanish anti-doping legislation is being applied by CELAD, laws that were approved in 2021 and that WADA supported. However, the revealed cases seem to indicate that CELAD is not applying the current laws as it should, which is aggravated by a Royal Decree published in November 2023 and which, apparently, does not conform to the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code.

The reality is that, just 6 months away from the Olympic Games, Spanish sport is once again in the eye of the storm due to the anti-doping fight.