Beijing’s ban will cost us, says Hong Kong anti-doping agency after Wada hands down stiff suspension

Hong Kong’s anti-doping agency will have to find other centres for its testing following the suspension of Beijing’s National Anti-Doping Laboratory on Thursday, but it will not affect their operations according to a senior official.

“Most of our collected samples are sent to the Beijing Laboratory for testing and now we have to send them to other centres in the region such as Tokyo and Seoul, at least in the interim period,” said Ronnie Wong Man-chiu, honorary secretary of the Olympic Committee, which oversees the Hong Kong Anti-Doping Committee.

“The cost will be much higher in terms of charges and other related services but we cannot stop carrying out the testing.

“We have a long working relationship with the Chinese authority but have no idea why the Laboratory was suspended by Wada. There will be a meeting with the Sports General Administration in Beijing next month and maybe we will learn more about this.”

Wada suspends accreditation of Beijing anti-doping lab for four months after it fails to meet quality standards

Wong said the Hong Kong Doping Committee intends to conduct doping tests for all of their athletes who have qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio this summer and this will not be affected by the suspension of the Beijing Laboratory.

A statement on the official Chinada website claimed it received the suspension after failing a double-blind test carried out by Wada in October 2015.

The China Anti-Doping Agency Beijing Laboratory reported two false negative results.

As a result, Wada decided to suspend the Laboratory on April 21 for a period of not more than four months.

The Laboratory said it will review and improve its procedures and resume testing after receiving approval from Wada.

The National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing is set to release an official statement in reaction to Wada’s suspension later on Friday.