WADA shuts Bloem lab over irregularities

Montreal - An anti-doping laboratory which tested players during the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa has been stripped of its accreditation over irregularities.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspended the laboratory in Bloemfontein in May 2016 and has now removed altogether its right to test samples after finding it has not "satisfactorily addressed the outstanding non-conformities."

WADA says it also revoked the accreditation of a laboratory in Almaty, Kazakhstan for the same reasons. It didn't provide more detail on the failings at the two laboratories.

The two laboratories are only the second and third in history to be stripped of WADA accreditation.

In 2015, Russia's laboratory in Moscow was sanctioned over allegations it covered up drug use.

That prompted WADA to intensify checks on other laboratories around the world.