MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA's) independent Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) Department has found an anti-doping rule violation by the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) and the British Cycling Federation (British Cycling), but will not impose any sanctions against these organizations, according to the WADA said in a press release.
An investigation into allegations found that in 2011, United Kingdom Anti-Doping (UKAD) allowed British Cycling to analyze samples from athletes in private, using a non-WADA accredited laboratory, for the purposes of screening for a prohibited substance.
The WADA I&I investigation, known as Operation Echo, was launched in March 2021, when British media reported that UKAD had allowed British Cycling to analyze samples from athletes in private, using a non-WADA accredited laboratory, to screen for a prohibited substance after traces of the banned anabolic steroid were found in an unnamed athlete's blood sample.
"'Operation Echo' confirmed that in February 2011, as part of a study into potential contamination of supplements, British Cycling collected samples from elite riders and screened these samples for the androgen and anabolic steroid, nandrolone. Contrary to the rules laid down by the World Anti-Doping Code and the relevant International Standard, the samples were collected by British Cycling staff rather than doping control officers, analyzed by a non-WADA-accredited laboratory, and provided by the athletes on the basis that UKAD would never know the results," WADA said in a press release.
WADA also noted that "the samples could be collected and analyzed at a non-WADA-accredited laboratory."
The agency did not impose any sanctions against UKAD, since the employees involved in the events of 2011 no longer work there, and UKAD has already taken measures to avoid a repeat occurrence. During the investigation, British Cycling and UKAD provided WADA with full cooperation and transparency.
