French anti-doping lab's suspension set for up to six months
The World Anti-Doping Agency announced Friday that the French national anti-doping laboratory's suspension could last up to six months.
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"The suspension was imposed due to analytical issues self-reported to WADA by the Laboratory," WADA said in a statement.
The Montreal-based WADA first announced the suspension of the National Anti-Doping Organization of France, based in the Paris suburb of Chatenay-Malabry, on September 24 for a provisional period of time.
"Since 24 September, disciplinary proceedings were carried out by an independent Disciplinary Committee.... which is now complete," WADA said.
The suspension was linked to contamination of a sampling robot after tests carried out on samples from bodybuilders showed levels of testosterone up to 200 times the normal positive test.
France's only anti-doping laboratory, it handled around 13,500 samples in 2016.
The suspension, which took effect on Tuesday, "prohibits the Paris laboratory from carrying out any anti-doping activities, including all analyses of urine and blood samples," WADA said.
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