(ATR) Spain and Mexico have been declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Seven national anti-doping organizations (NADOs) of six countries were added to WADA’s compliance "watch list" in November and given until March 18 to introduce rules to comply with the WADA code.
"The NADOs of Spain and Mexico have not resolved their respective issues, and are therefore declared non-compliant with the code," WADA said in a statement.
WADA said the NADOs of Belgium (German Community NADO), Belgium (Joint Communities Commission), Greece, Brazil and France had all resolved their code-related issues and were now in compliance.
Regarding Spain, WADA said it recognized there was currently no sitting government, "and therefore understands the difficulties the country is facing with resolving its outstanding issues at this time".
"As it relates to testing in Spain during non-compliance, an agreement is being reached for testing to be carried out by International Sport Federations (IFs). This will ensure that effective testing programs can be run in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games," the statement added.
WADA said it acknowledged the Mexican government’s recent efforts; and was "hopeful" that the necessary work would be completed "in the very near future".
Brazil approved anti-doping legislation last Thursday. The new Brazilian anti-doping code went into effect aligning the Olympic host nation with the WADA code. A presidential order approved changes to the law that allows for a new independent sports court to handle anti-doping cases.
WADA said the Brazilian NADO "has met the necessary requirements".
"However, it is important to note that the Brazilian Parliament must still affirm the presidential decree and other related activities must be completed within the next 120 days," the agency said.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was declared non-compliant with the code in November following revelations about state-sponsored doping in the WADA Independent Commission report.
Russia’s doping problems continued on Monday when the country’s athletics chief announced that four athletes had tested positive for meldonium. It's the drug tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for at the Australian Open.
TASS reported on Monday that track-and-field athletes Gulshat Fazletdinova and Andrey Minzhulin had tested positive for meldonium along with Nadezhda Kotlyarova and Olga Vovk. The Russian news agency said they failed drugs tests at the winter championships in Russia in February.
The doping offenses bring to at least 20 the number of Russian athletes who have been publicly named and shamed for testing positive for meldonium.
WADA has reported more than 100 positive tests for meldonium since it was put on the banned list in January.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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