Spain to cut anti-doping budget 08/10/2010 |
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Funding for the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency (AEA) will be reduced next year as part of a series of national austerity measures being proposed by the Government, sports secretary Jaime Lissavetzky has revealed.
The cuts were announced days after several positive tests involving Spanish riders, including Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, were disclosed by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The Spanish Sports Council (CSD), which is responsible for the AEA, will suffer an almost eight per cent cut in funds against the 2010 budget, amounting to a loss of around 14.5m euros, reports Reuters.
As part of those cuts, the AEA is to have its budget reduced by 2.7 per cent, which prompted the opposition to question the move.
"In what state will that leave Spain's fight against doping, at a time when the president of the International Cycling Union Pat McQuaid is questioning our fight against doping," opposition Partido Popular MP Manuel Dominguez was quoted as saying by sports daily Marca on Thursday (October 7).
Lissavetzky responded by saying the AEA's work and its laboratory would not be affected.
Spain did not have a problem with doping that was "any greater or smaller than the rest of the world", he added.
"It's a global issue and that's why the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] was created in 1999," said Lissavetzky, who sits on WADA's executive committee.
"We are going to reform [Spain's] doping law. We want to be as efficient as possible."
Three-time Tour winner Contador was provisionally suspended by the UCI last week after testing positive for a tiny quantity of the anabolic agent clenbuterol during the July race.
He has denied doping and put the positive test down to contaminated meat.
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