(Reuters) - The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Tuesday it has issued a three-month partial accreditation suspension to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Olympic Analytical Laboratory for analysing certain banned substances.
The three-month suspension began last Wednesday and, according to a WADA statement, is a result of "WADA's quality assessment procedures that identified non-conformities with best practice."
Los Angeles is competing against Paris to host the 2024 Olympics and the local bid committee has selected UCLA as the site for the Olympic Village, which would house all competing athletes.
During the suspension, the UCLA laboratory can carry out all its regular anti-doping activities, but it must obtain a second opinion from another WADA-accredited lab prior to reporting any adverse analytical finding for the glucocorticoids "prednisolone" and "prednisone"; and, the anabolic steroids "boldenone" and "boldione".
WADA said suspensions limited to certain substances have been issued in the past and allow for appropriate monitoring of the lab to ensure full implementation of necessary improvements with the objective of a return to full compliance.
An independent WADA Disciplinary Committee advised by WADA's Laboratory Expert Group delivered its recommendation for a limited suspension on June 14.
The UCLA lab was notified of the decision two days later and has 21 days to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
As part of the process, WADA will conduct a site visit within a timeframe that reasonably allows the UCLA Laboratory to finalise implementation of all remedial actions.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
