The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to suspend the WADA accreditation of the Romanian Doping Control Laboratory (Bucharest Laboratory) in late-November last year, and journalists from Der Spiegel say this happened after at least two urine samples that tested positive for banned substances were covered up.

The German publication Der Spiegel got the information from an internal report of WADA, which they received from the hacker group Fancy Bears.

The report allegedly shows that, during the analysis of two urine samples belonging to Romanian wrestlers, which were taken in April 2016, the lab detected furosemide, which has been on the list of banned substances for years. The laboratory’s director at that time Valentin Pop chose not to report the finding. Moreover, the samples were entered into the Anti-Doping Administration & Management System (ADAMS) as being negative.

An informant apparently alerted the WADA about the incident, and agency investigators made a surprise visit to the Bucharest anti-doping lab, Der Spiegel reported. They confiscated the samples and, just one day later, they watched as the user "valentin.pop" logged onto the ADAMS system and changed the status of the samples from "negative" to "AAF," which indicates that doping substances were found in the sample.

Last year, WADA said it decided to suspend the accreditation of the Romanian lab due to non-compliances with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). The suspension took effect starting November 29, prohibiting the lab from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.

Founded in 1983, the Doping Control Laboratory in Romania was the only lab in Eastern Europe accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. It received the international accreditation from WADA in July 2009.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Lcd.gov.ro)