MADRID, 4 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The organizers of the Valencia Marathon and Half Marathon announced this Thursday that they will not hire the services of the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (CELAD) to carry out anti-doping controls in both tests “until the investigations into alleged irregularities are clarified in a reliable manner” that have been undertaken by both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the State Attorney General's Office due to possible criminal evidence.
'Relevo' published several days ago that the agency dependent on the Higher Sports Council (CSD) would have paid with public funds for irregular controls for five years, which would have caused no positive cases to be sanctioned. The Council, according to 'El País', had already sent a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office.
And this news “about criminal signs in the use of public funds and in the processes of taking samples and monitoring of the CELAD sanctioning files”, has provoked the forceful reaction of the organization of the Marathon and the Half Marathon of the capital of the Turia.
It has decided that “it will not carry out new anti-doping test contracts with CELAD until the investigations for alleged irregularities undertaken by WADA, at the administrative level, and by the State Attorney General's Office, at the judicial level, are clarified in a reliable manner. the latter urged by the CSD itself, on which CELAD depends”.
The general director of these events, Juan Manuel Botella, warned that “although the cases that have appeared in the media are not related” to the controls carried out in the Valencia Marathon and Half Marathon, “there is a loss of confidence in the maximum Spanish anti-doping body”, in which “until now” they had “trusted”, and also “in the companies empowered by it to carry out the tests”.
“If the president of the CSD himself has publicly declared that there are criminal signs and has transferred them to the Prosecutor's Office, the situation is very serious, so we cannot sit idly by or pretend that nothing is happening,” Botella added.
The manager made it clear that his organization “has clear exemplary standards against cheaters” and that “it will not allow even the slightest shadow of doubt in its fight against doping.” “We build professional careers of the highest global level in which the highest Spanish anti-doping body and its contracted companies have to be up to the challenge; if not, it is better that they are not there,” he stressed.
“For all these reasons, as long as the situation is not clarified in the right direction, the contracting of anti-doping controls in the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich Half Marathon and in the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Marathon will be entrusted directly to teams from the Athletics Integrity Unit ( AIU) to guarantee impartiality, rigor and zero tolerance for cheaters,” Botella confirmed.
The general director of the two Valencian events believes that “like all great races”, his have also suffered “in the past the deception of some runners.” “For this reason, because it has cost us money and broken our hope of crowning the true champions, our commitment to identifying and removing liars from the sport is and will continue to be unwavering,” he stated.
The organizers recall that Valencia was the first World Athletics Championships organization in history that in 2018 made a voluntary contribution of $50,000 for surprise controls, and like other internationally prestigious events, it does not hire athletes who have been sanctioned in sign for a serious anti-doping offense, regardless of whether they have already served their sanction.
Furthermore, annually, the Valencia Marathon and Half Marathon allocate more than 35,000 euros directly to anti-doping tests and space conditioning for their correct execution. Additionally, it makes annual payments to World Athletics worth more than $70,000, within the Road Running Label program, which the world federation allocates to biological passport controls.
“Hopefully this whole situation makes visible the importance of a stronger and more transparent Spanish anti-doping body, with the human, legal and economic means necessary to combat corruption in sport,” concluded Juan Manuel Botella.