No procedure despite positive test
In another case reported by the newspaper El Diario, sprinter Patrick Chinedu Ike tested positive for three substances. But CELAD has not opened any proceedings and is instead allowing the athlete to continue competing. According to Relevo, the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA also did not intervene, even though it had the positive result.
For five years, WADA has allowed athletes in Spain who have violated anti-doping rules not to be punished.
CELAD is also said to have covered up various doping offenses by subsequently granting the athletes a medical exemption for the relevant substance. Relevo cites Spanish marathon record holder Majida Maayouf as an example of this practice.
Tests not carried out in accordance with the rules
The Spanish sports portal also reports that CELAD paid an external company to carry out doping tests between 2017 and 2022 – but the company then carried out these tests with untrained or too few staff. If the test is positive, this would also mean that the athlete in question could challenge the result.
This was apparently exactly the fear at CELAD when one of the samples actually came back positive. That’s why, according to Relevo, the director of CELAD’s doping control department, Jesús Muñoz-Guerra, and another employee are said to have changed the test documents in order to conceal the fact that there were deficiencies in the conduct of the test. An investigation into document forgery is now underway against the two CELAD employees. According to Relevo, there is a risk of imprisonment of four and a half years.
Relevo: WADA has launched an investigation
The poor testing could also have caused financial damage to the Spanish anti-doping authority because it paid for tests that were not usable. The then Secretary General of CELAD, Agustin Gonzalez, noted and criticized this in internal audits in 2021. However, these reviews were ignored and Gonzalez resigned from his position.
The publications are now increasing pressure on CELAD. WADA has since stated that it has been aware of the problems at CELAD for months. She therefore took the “highly unusual” step of withdrawing three ongoing doping cases from CELAD.
In addition, WADA called on the Spanish anti-doping authority to correct problems in testing and management. The Spanish sports authority demands the resignation of the director of CELAD.
iNADO director Levya: “Not really dramatic”
Jorge Levya sees the situation as much less dramatic. “I was of course surprised when I read about the case,” Levya said on Deutschlandfunk. He is director of iNADO, an association of 69 national anti-doping organizations. Levya said he doesn’t know the details of the case, “but when I look at the most important allegations separately, everything I see isn’t really dramatic for me.”
Sports fans and athletes must be explained “that it is good that athletes who are caught by the anti-doping system have the right to go to independent authorities if they believe that a mistake has been made became.”
No “back door” for doping cheaters
The fact that a judge overturns a doping penalty “can perhaps be seen as a setback for the anti-doping system,” Levya said. “But this is actually proof that there is checks and balances in the system. But for me that is no proof that the back door is being systematically opened to fraudsters.”
Even though international doping control is an internationally standardized system, every control is different, said Levya. “A differentiated view is always necessary. Therefore, I think the impact of the case is now minimal. Even though I would have liked to avoid the headlines.”
Levya does not see a systematic doping system
Levya therefore does not want to talk about a systematic doping problem in Spain. However, the case shows “how entangled and complex the system has become. And unfortunately how difficult it is for all of us to always keep an overview.”
Levya is therefore not worried that athletes from Spain could gain an unfair advantage at this year’s Olympic Games. “In the years discussed in the magazine, CELAD has also banned many athletes after a positive test. Of course, as in other countries, positive tests may take longer to process,” he said.
“The accusation that exemptions for banned substances were subsequently granted is also something that also occurs in other countries and for which there may be good reasons.”