Spanish government drafts anti-doping law in-line with WADA

BARCELONA, Spain – The Spanish government presented stricter legislation Friday to bring the country back in line with World Anti-Doping Agency standards.

WADA declared Spain “non-compliant” last March, and suspended the accreditation of the Madrid anti-doping laboratory in June.

Spain passed a sweeping anti-doping law in 2013 to match the standards then held by WADA, but that law was made antiquated when WADA strengthened its standards in 2015.

The government said Friday that the new legislation has “the objective of bringing Spanish legislation in line with the requirements of the World Anti-doping Agency.”

The Spanish parliament will have to vote on the proposed modifications to the anti-doping legislation for them to become law.

The new legislation proposes to double the length of suspensions for doping from two to four years. It would also make punishable anyone complicit in aiding in the doping of an athlete, including doctors, sports clubs and team directors, among others.

The statue of limitations for doping would increase from eight to 10 years.

Spain had been unable to modify its anti-doping legislation until now because of a political impasse created by two inconclusive elections that finally gave way to a new government in October.