BarcelonaThe Spanish sport begins the countdown to the Paris Olympics in the worst way, after a harsh statement from the World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA) in which it calls into question the work done by the State Agency Spanish Commission for the Fight Against Doping in Sport (CELAD). Waiting to see if international sanctions arrive, the Spanish government has requested the resignation of José Luis Terreros, director of CELAD. If Terreros does not resign, he would be dismissed at the end of this January. According to the president of the Superior Sports Council (CSD), José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes: “We cannot consent to the slightest suspicion in relation to the fight against doping, the integrity of competitions and preserving the health of athletes.”
In recent months, the Ministry of Education and Sport has carried out an investigation with a dossier of more than 80 pages highlighting alleged irregularities in controls, the misuse of public funds and cases of doping that were not sanctioned. This report has been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office, which could try those responsible for Spanish anti-doping in the near future. “It must be the Prosecutor’s Office that assesses whether there are rational indications of the commission of a crime,” explains Rodríguez Uribes.
The international pressure has not stopped growing in recent months, and has finally led to the AMA statement, which complains about the lack of collaboration of those responsible for prosecuting doping in Spain. “The inaction of the Spanish government in complying with the World Anti-Doping Code is alarming. If these problems are not addressed quickly and effectively, it is clear that there will be important consequences for Spanish sport”, this statement made clear that it seems announce sanctions
The current government has toughened its speech to avoid possible sanctions by the WADA, a body which, in the words of its president, Witold Bańka, has been investigating the matter “for some time”. “We are very aware of the deep-rooted problems in Spanish anti-doping. I am disappointed with the level of cooperation we have received from CELAD as we seek to improve the system for Spanish athletes. The fact that there are positive cases that have not been dealt with in time , despite regular monitoring by the AMA, is unacceptable,” says Bańka.
Already in 2012, the WADA sanctioned the Madrid laboratory after receiving complaints, which led to an intervention in Parliament by the head of the fight against doping, Ana Muñoz, who spoke of more than 800 forms of incorrect doping control. Then, the deputy general director of sport and health of the Superior Sports Council was the Aragonese doctor José Luis Terreros, who was removed from this job, but not fired. But during the government of Mariano Rajoy, the pressure on the laboratories was relaxed and Terreros was appointed head of Spanish Anti-Doping. Today he still continues in this position despite serious cases such as that of the athlete Patrick Chinedu Ike, who tested positive for nandrolone and continued to compete without any open file.
Controls with a single worker
Those responsible for the fight against doping would have defended themselves by stating that they left Chinedu Ike’s file hidden in a drawer, since the control in which he would have tested positive was incorrect because it was carried out by a single worker, a fact il ·legal, because at least two responsible people are required to be present. Some athletes have gone so far as to report that the controls were carried out by a single person who then falsified the documents, signing on behalf of two people. The Spanish anti-doping has privatized the controls of the German company Professional Worldwide Controls, that, as reported by the portal Relief, billed checks with a single agent as if they had been made by two. Once it became known about these practices, the company still signed a new contract with the Spanish anti-doping agency.
One of the most publicized cases was that of the footballer Sergio Ramos, who during a Malaga-Madrid match breached the anti-doping protocol by taking a shower before taking the tests. In this case, there was also only one responsible and not two as required by law. Ramos would have asked to take a shower to buy time, and since he was not given permission, he would have decided to do it in front of the worker of the company Professional Worldwide Controls.
In recent months, there have been cases of athletes pre-selected to be in the World Cup, cyclists pardoned or uproar such as that of marathon runner Majida Maayouf, who tested positive in Germany just before becoming a Spanish citizen. Spanish anti-doping officials then gave him permission to take a banned substance retroactively. In other words, they justified the substance that had appeared in that control afterwards. The Agency for the Fight Against Doping in Sport would have opened files on athletes for positive results, but on the same day it left them in abeyance. Cases like Chinedu Ike’s were not officially investigated until four years after the positive.
Two decades after the scandal of the doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, Spanish sport is again under suspicion. Then, what was known as Operation Puerto dismantled a doping ring led by Fuentes, which sold hormones, drugs and gave blood transfusions to cyclists, soccer players, tennis players and athletes, among others. But since doping was not a crime in Spain at the time, only those responsible for the network were tried, not the athletes, for a crime against public health. Now, the WADA is closely monitoring the events to see whether or not to apply sanctions. The Spanish government will try to offer the head of Terreros to avoid this. We will have to see if it is enough.
2024-01-10 13:00:45
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