WADA to ‘Make Every Effort’ to Accredit Russian Anti-Doping Lab

Acting head of the Russian anti-doping center in Moscow Marina Dikunets said that WADA will do its utmost to make sure that Russia has its accredited anti-doping laboratory.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will do its utmost to make sure that Russia has its accredited anti-doping laboratory, acting head of the Russian anti-doping center in Moscow Marina Dikunets said Tuesday.

WADA wrapped up its two-day visit with its senior science director, Dr. Olivier Rabin, earlier on Tuesday. WADA may grant the Moscow laboratory candidate status for further accreditation within 12 weeks of its initial visit.

"We discussed all issues related to our future actions to restore our accreditation and discussed all the nuances… We were told that WADA would make every effort so that Russia had its own anti-doping laboratory," Dikunets told R-Sport.

"We have two more visits by WADA representatives planned, possibly in June and a final inspection in late October-early November," Dikunets told the R-Sport news agency.

WADA revoked its accreditation of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory on April 15, citing the lab’s alleged non-compliance with the International Standard for Laboratories and related technical documents.

Dikunets stressed that the lab was conducting professional tests of its staff until April 29, and planned to submit technical paperwork by May 14 to receive candidate lab status.