Sri Lanka says anti-doping suspension over ‘procedural delay’

Sri Lanka’s suspension this week from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was due to “procedural challenges” in updating the island’s sports law, the local governing body said Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency (SLADA) said that legislative amendments were already before parliament to bring local laws in line with international standards required by WADA.

“These are procedural challenges. We will get this done in the next couple of weeks,” SLADA Director-General Shiromi Pilapitiya told AFP. “Once it is done, we will be reinstated.”

She said that Sri Lanka’s parliament was expected to ratify an amended sports law that expands the list of banned substances for athletes.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet approved the proposed amendments in May, but it is still awaiting parliamentary approval.

Sri Lanka’s current anti-doping laws were introduced in 2013.

Canada-based WADA, which placed Sri Lanka on a “watch-list” in March, suspended the South Asian nation on Tuesday, saying it had not addressed or disputed the world body’s concerns.

The WADA suspension makes Sri Lanka the second signatory to the body currently considered non-compliant, along with Russia.

Source: AFP
--Agencies