Spanish football is reportedly "approaching a year since it last carried out an anti-doping test that was valid under guidelines set by the World Anti-Doping Authority," according to Ed Malyon of the London INDEPENDENT. Spain's anti-doping authority, AEPSAD, was declared non-compliant with WADA's anti-doping code back in March after "a four-month stint on their watch list, meaning that any testing undertaken since has not conformed to the global anti-doping authorities' high standards" after AEPSAD's testing laboratory was suspended. While in other sports AEPSAD was "able to draft in assistance from governing bodies," UEFA and FIFA "both declined to step in to ensure valid testing was taking place in La Liga and the Copa del Rey." AEPSAD said in a statement, "The exceptional political situation that Spain has survived in the last few months has prevented the implication of Law 3/2013, necessary for fulfilling the Spanish anti-doping rules and the World Anti-Doping code." AEPSAD was "keen to point out" that, despite not being WADA-endorsed, AEPSAD "had still tested 57 players this season" (INDEPENDENT, 2/9).
