The allegations
An investigation by the Spanish Ministry for Culture into the country’s anti-doping agency (CELAD, run and funded by the Ministry for Education) has revealed that the agency has hidden the results of positive drugs tests, provided backdated therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for Spanish athletes, and its drug testers have repeatedly acted against WADA protocol since 2017. These revelations suggest a long-term, systemic effort from certain individuals at CELAD to work against WADA’s mission for clean sport.
The key findings of this investigation have been revealed after a request to the Ministry for Culture by Alberto Yelmo, a former adviser to CELAD. Yelmo requested further information on CELAD’s actions on two specific cases, but much more was revealed. The key findings are set out below.
The main case that has hit the headlines since the reveal is that of sprinter Patrick Chinedu Ike, who had a positive test for Nandrolone in July 2019, and yet has been able to compete freely since, with no announcement, further investigation or ban from CELAD. The Ministry’s report suggests that there have been discrepancies in five athletes’ Athlete Biological Passports (ABPs), which have not been investigated and did not lead to any charges or bans for the athletes involved.
Marathoner Majida Maayouf has also been the subject of significant concern after allegations that she was retrospectively given an indefinite TUE. Maayouf allegedly tested positive for terbutaline after a 10k race in Germany in November 2020, but was retrospective granted a TUE for it on a doping control form by Jesús Muñoz-Guerra, the doping control director at CELAD. Muñoz-Guerra faces the risk of an eight-year prison term for falsifying public documents. Maayouf has represented Morocco throughout her career but became eligible to run for Spain on 3rd October 2023 according to World Athletics. She has experienced an incredibly rapid improvement, from running a marathon PB of 2:33 in 2019 and 2:29 in April 2021 to 2:21:01 in December 2022 at the age of 33. She almost matched her PB with 2:21:27 at the Valenica marathon on 3rd December 2023, setting the Spanish national record two months after becoming eligible to represent the country.
Concerns have also been revealed over the manner in which Spanish doping tests have been conducted. It has been reported that many tests from 2017-2022 were carried out with only one testing agent, despite two being required in WADA’s regulations. This risks rendering the tests invalid should any investigation reach the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The damage of this failure has been highlighted in the case of footballer Sergio Ramos, who is reported to have refused to take a drugs test before showering after a match in April 2018. The test was technically missed by Ramos, but declared void as only one agent was present (there were in fact two people present, but the second was the agent’s father). Whilst there are no suggestions Ramos used performance enhancing substances, it seems incredible that CELAD have consistently operated with such lax procedures in recent years.
Did anyone see this coming?
WADA undertook an in-person compliance audit on CELAD in November 2019. No recommendations have been made public after the audit, so we cannot be sure whether WADA had specific concerns over CELAD in this time period. WADA’s 2019 Annual Compliance Report confirms that 12 NADOs and 6 international federations were audited in that year. 315 findings and corrective actions were identified overall, with 37% of them implemented by the time of the report in March 2020. 71 of the corrected actions referred to testing, 42 to results management and 12 to TUEs, all issues that have arisen in the recent CELAD reports. Hence, WADA may have already had concerns over CELAD’s work in these areas in its 2019 audit, although no evidence has been revealed to the public about this.
The Council of Europe reviewed CELAD’s anti-doping compliance in October 2022. Its report has been made public. It contains a few relatively minor recommendations, including improved testing provisions for Spanish athletes training in North Africa and holding anti-doping hearings publicly, but there were no major concerns noted about CELAD’s testing methods or result reporting.
How have CELAD and WADA responded?
There is a good chance that the CELAD saga is only just beginning. Allegations of this nature take time to be analysed, acted upon and resolved, and it is likely that the Ministry of Culture’s investigation will go on much further than these initial findings. Concerningly, the director of CELAD José Luis Terreros has recently been named as one of four people in charge of reanalysing samples from the Rio 2016 Olympics, suggesting that the IOC and WADA are either unaware or unbothered about the systemic failures of CELAD under his watch.
Since publishing the first version of this article, I have received the following statement from WADA:
“WADA is well aware of ongoing issues related to the National Anti-Doping Organization of Spain (CELAD) and is closely monitoring its activities to ensure they are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. As part of that, we can confirm that there are a number of outstanding corrective actions that need to be addressed by CELAD as a matter of urgency. Failure to do so will result in a compliance procedure being initiated against it, as per the usual Code compliance process.”
It is crucial that WADA has confirmed that CELAD have specific areas of compliance that must be improved, and that WADA are willing to take action against CELAD if required. The statement is an important step, but it is the action that follows that will determine whether WADA is serious about clamping down on CELAD’s failures. I will write another blog post in the coming days explaining exactly what WADA’s “usual Code compliance process” is, and how it may be used to punish and regulate CELAD.
WADA’s statement goes on to say: “WADA will always ensure CELAD – and all Anti-Doping Organizations – prosecute cases where appropriate to do so under the Code. Undue delays in dealing with cases will not be tolerated.”
This is a powerful commitment by WADA to act both forcefully and quickly. However, WADA’s public willingness to take action must be backed up by prosecution and punishment. Without this, other agencies could easily see CELAD’s discretions as a line that can be safely followed, significantly harming the movement towards clean sport.
Where do we go from here?
The breadth and seriousness of these recent allegations mean that there should be serious concern over the conduct of CELAD and robustness of the Spanish anti-doping system across all sports, with a particular concern in athletics. In the coming weeks and months we should look out for further reports from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports and any additional evidence revealed by Alberto Yelmo (who appeared to kick-start these allegations with his request to the Ministry for further information on specific cases). As the cases of Patrick Chinedu Ike and Majida Maayouf hit the headlines, we may soon see a statement from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) or WADA to clarify events and potentially charge the athletes involved.
Sadly, our concern should not stop at the Spanish border. Spain is just the latest of a number of countries and sporting bodies to appear to have been involved in internal cover-ups of doping practices. From Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling’s ‘jiffy bag’ to Romanian anti-doping’s cover-up of positive tests for weightlifters, doping is a significant problem across sporting arenas. Russia is of course the most famous recent example, but there are further examples out there within national anti-doping agencies (NADOs), international federations and national federations that show that doping is not a problem exclusively located within a few countries, but is instead a grave concern across international and sporting borders.
In athletics, the AIU are making great strides towards catching athletes in Kenya, where widespread doping has become a major concern, with over 50 athletes sanctioned since the start of 2019. We can only hope that the great work of investigative journalists and researchers such as Alberto Yelmo can inspire similar action wherever it is needed around the world, ensuring NADOs, IFs and WADA work effectively together to level the global playing field.
N.B. The key reports of CELAD’s actions from 2017-2022 mentioned in this article were first reported in various articles in the Spanish media – these articles have been included in the below ‘Sources’ section. The WADA and Council of Europe investigations are also listed below. Please do get in touch if you are aware of how/if the 2019 WADA Audit into CELAD can be accessed publicly!
SOURCES:
ABC: Anti-doping director accused of falsehood
El Diario: Anti-doping opened files on athletes for positive results and left them suspended the same day; Anti-doping has hidden the positive result of a national team sprinter since 2019
Relevo: The World Anti-Doping Agency allowed Spain to leave several positives without sanctioning; The IOC and WADA leave the task of finding positive results for doping in Rio 2016 in the hands of an accused Spaniard; What is the Majida case and why are there shadows in the new Spanish marathon record?
ANTI-DOPING REPORTS:
Council of Europe: Evaluation of the Monitoring Group – EVALUATION VISIT TO SPAIN
18 – 20 OCTOBER 2022
Gold Medals & Grey Areas 