China's anti-doping authority said it is trying to solve the problems that caused the suspension of its testing laboratory and denied that the recent positive drug tests of Chinese swimmers had anything to do with it.
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced on its website on Friday that it has suspended its accreditation of the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing for a maximum of four months.
The suspension, to take effect immediately, means the lab has to stop carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples.
China's National Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement that technical mistakes are to blame for the suspension, and it is moving to meet the WADA requirements.
"The Beijing lab reported two false negative results in WADA's double-blind tests in October last year. The lab will resume its work after WADA inspects it again and approves the improvements," the Beijing lab said in a statement.
Double-blind test means the lab took the test without knowing the subjects of the testing, so as to create an unbiased test environment to ensure that the results are accurate.
WADA is responsible for accrediting and re-accrediting anti-doping labs to ensure that they maintain the highest quality standards. Whenever a laboratory does not meet requirements, WADA may suspend its accreditation. Of the total 35 accredited labs throughout the world, 19 have been suspended by WADA.
"The problem took place because we failed to follow WADA's latest technical requirements and there were oversights in reviewing the analysis," lab chief Xu Youxuan was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.
"Our lab now can meet WADA's latest technical requirements. We will apply for a WADA inspection and try to be reinstated as soon as possible," Xu said.
The Beijing lab is the only anti-doping lab in China. Before the suspension, it had passed all the tests since its accreditation in 1989.
Last month, China announced that there had been three positive drug result cases in swimming in 2015 and three more so far this year. Britain's The Times newspaper reported that five positive drug tests had been covered up by Chinese authorities, quoting whistleblowers.
"The suspension this time has nothing to do with the allegation from the foreign media," Zhao Jian, deputy director of China's anti-doping agency, told China Daily.
