23 Jan 2020 10:59

RUSADA keeping in touch with foreign laboratories that could replace Moscow anti-doping lab - Ganus

MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) decision to suspend the license of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory was to be expected, General Director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Yury Ganus said.

"It was back last year when we began fine-tuning logistics with laboratories we've been working with. I spoke to one laboratory director about increasing the number [of samples] that would be sent to them, and we received confirmation. Though this happened quite suddenly, this didn't come as a surprise to us," Ganus told Interfax.

"We've been working with laboratories in Stockholm, Cologne, Ghent, and Lausanne. It could also be a Polish laboratory [as well as ones in] Rome and Barcelona. We know these laboratories and have been keeping in touch with them. There is also a tentative agreement with logistics operators to work with the East, that is, Korea and Japan," he said.

WADA announced earlier that it was suspending the license of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory.