WADA partially suspends anti-doping lab at UCLA for three months

Los Angeles, June 21 (IANS) The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Tuesday announced a three-month partial ban on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Olympic Analytical Laboratory (UCLA Laboratory) for testing of specific prohibited substances.

The suspension of these analyses by the UCLA Laboratory, which is located in Los Angeles, California began on June 14 and, according to a WADA statement, is a result of "WADA's quality assessment procedures that identified non-conformities with best practice", reports Xinhua news agency.

During the suspension, the UCLA Laboratory can continue carrying out all its regular anti-doping activities.

"However, the Laboratory must obtain a second opinion from another WADA-accredited laboratory prior to reporting any Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) for the glucocorticoids 'prednisolone' and 'prednisone' and the anabolic steroids 'boldenone' and 'boldione'," WADA said in the statement.

Founded in 1982, the UCLA Laboratory is one of the two U.S. laboratories accredited by WADA. The facility operates on a $5 million annual budget. More than 40 scientists analyse approximately 45,000 urine samples each year, according to the facility.

The UCLA lab began testing for the US Olympic Committee in 1985 and then the US Anti-Doping Agency in 2000. The facility has provided anti-doping testing for the 1984, 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games.

The lab also conducts tests for the US National Collegiate Athletic Association, US National Football League, US Minor League Baseball and other major sporting events such as the 1994 World Cup.

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