BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s Higher Council for Sports, its leading governmental sports authority, publicly demanded the director of its anti-doping agency resign after accusations of malpractice.
A complaint against agency director José Luis Terreros prompted a ministerial probe. The council for sports said on Friday the accusations included financial irregularities plus irregularities in doping controls and sanctions, without elaborating.
The council asked for Terreros to step down given the “events and the reputational damage that Spanish sports and our system of (doping) control could face,” according to the statement.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued its own statement on Friday highly critical of Spain.
WADA said it “has been aware of ongoing problems” in the Spanish agency “including several issues to do with testing and results management.” That included concerns with the implementation of Spain’s 2021 anti-doping law, which WADA backed.
If Terreros does not resign, Minister of Education and Sports Pilar Alegría and council president José Rodriguez Uribes would move to have him fired, the sports council said.
Alegría’s ministry shared the finding of its internal investigation with Spanish state prosecutors on Tuesday. The probe, the council said, was instigated after an unnamed person or persons came forward with accusations of “alleged irregularities in the use of public funds and in the control and sanctions for doping by the National Anti-Doping Organization of Spain (CELAD).”
The council said it was up to state prosecutors to determine if there exists reason to believe any illegal acts were committed. The anti-doping agency will also undergo a review of its protocols and practices, the council said.
Council president Rodríguez Uribes said, “Spain’s commitment is that all athletes compete under equal conditions and that the purity of sports prevails, goals which are achieved through guaranteeing the strictest compliance with the world anti-doping code.”
“We are well aware of deep-seated issues within Spanish anti-doping,” WADA President Witold Bańka said. “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 handled in a timely fashion, despite regular follow up by WADA, is unacceptable.”
Bańka added that if the issues are not cleared up quickly “then it is clear there will be significant consequences for Spanish sport.”
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