World Anti-Doping Agency Falsely Accused Athletes of Using Steroids

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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has falsely accused athletes of using anabolic steroids due to errors by one of its formerly accredited worldwide laboratories. The Malaysia lab has since been removed from WADA’s list of accredited labs.

The lab’s mistakes demonstrated a “serious lack of competence,” the CAS ruling said. “Its errors had the propensity to cause harm. But for the initiatives of the athletes, and the investigations of other laboratories, the errors would not have been unmasked and the athletes’ careers interrupted, if not terminated.”

Egyptian soccer player Hossam Ghaly and an unidentified American female marathon runner were falsely accused of using the anabolic steroid nandrolone by a WADA lab in Malaysia. United Arab Emirates soccer players Samir Ibrahim Ali Hassan and Hassan Tir were also cleared of doping after the lab mistakes were uncovered.

The World Anti-Doping Agency websites indicates there are currently 35 approved laboratories that meet the criteria required for WADA accreditation. The Malaysia laboratory was the first WADA-accredited lab to be banned from conducting testing as a result of their incompetence.