August 27 - Brazil today suffered the embarrassment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) withdrawing the accreditation from the testing laboratory that is due to play a major role in next year's FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics for "repeated failures".
WADA announced the decision to strip the accreditation held by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) doping control laboratory, also known as LADETEC, less than ten months before the World Cup is due to open.
"The laboratory - which is currently suspended - will no longer be authorised to carry out the testing of doping control samples on behalf of WADA or any testing authority," WADA said.
WADA says the lab can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) before the revocation officially takes effect on September 25.
The laboratory has been suspended since August 8 from testing any anti-doping samples.
WADA has not said how the laboratory has failed in its work, beyond revealing that it is "due to non-compliance with the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL) and the related Technical Documents".
In 2012, the laboratory was suspended from conducting isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) testing on samples - the element of its operation which had caused it falsely to report that Brazilian beach volleyball player Pedro Solberg Salgado had tested positive for testosterone.
The only other WADA-accredited laboratory in South America at present is in Colombia, although there are also facilities in Cuba and Mexico.
Rio 2016 plan to urgently try to find a solution to help the laboratory regain its accreditation, which was withdrawn on the eve of the latest visit from the International Olympic Committee's Coordination Commission, chaired by Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel, which is due to start on Saturday (August 31).
"We are fully aware of the developments with regard to LABDOP/LADETEC," a spokesman told insidethegames.
"Anti-doping testing is an important element of the Rio 2016 Games and we will work closely with the UFRJ and LABDOP/LADETEC to help them to take the necessary measures to successfully reapply for WADA accreditation in advance of 2016."