The Spanish anti-doping fight pays for its excessive negligence and loses its quality certificate.

Coincidentally, the same week that the European Commission slapped the Sánchez government on the wrist for its "lack of ambition" in the fight against corruption , the fight against doping in Spain has suffered a new setback that once again exposes it. In this case, more than a lack of ambition, it is due to excessive negligence and incompetence in the management of such a delicate matter that causes so much reputational damage to Spanish sport.

While the Prime Minister announces the creation of an independent anti-corruption agency, the Spanish Commission for the Fight against Doping in Sport (CELAD), the state anti-doping agency, which reports to the Higher Council of Sports (CSD), has lost its ISO 9001 certification. This is an international standard of reference for organizations that want to improve their internal management and, in the case of the Spanish anti-doping agency, certifies the quality of its processes .

If Spain is already a country permanently under suspicion regarding doping , what has been happening at CELAD for the past year and a half provides justification. Since José Luis Terreros was dismissed on January 25, 2024 , after refusing to resign, the general management of the agency has fallen to Silvia Calzón , who only lasted eight months, specifically until September 24, and Carlos Peralta , who took office on October 2.

This instability in the leadership of the state anti-doping agency is directly proportional to the aforementioned negligence and incompetence in its management . Proof of this is that on June 24, the CELAD Governing Council dismissed its secretary general, Montserrat Herranz . The official reason was the classic "loss of confidence," although the real reason was that three of the cases had expired, leaving them unpunished . Incredible, but true.

The case of basketball player Dylan Osetkowski

While this matter had already been discussed among people linked to the anti-doping fight, the news was confirmed by the newspaper Marca on July 4. "CELAD has initiated the procedure to reopen the positive test of Dylan Osetkowski , former Unicaja player. Dylan failed a marijuana test in December 2023 and whose case expired within the sanction period," the report read.

Of course, two other cases have been added to this one. According to the same media outlet, "one involving softball and the other involving a sport of little importance." However, CELAD assured the aforementioned newspaper that the expiration occurred "as a result of human error to which a heavy-handed response has been given." They added that "the level of professionalism and rigor required at CELAD is the highest and will continue to be so." Does this sound familiar? I'm sure it is.

Of 47 files in 2024, only four have been concluded

In the CELAD 2024 Report , which can be consulted on its website, it is confirmed that "in relation to the resolution of the files, as of December 31, 2024, one has been concluded . Regarding the remaining ones in 2024, four have been concluded at the beginning of 2025. The rest are pending completion of their instruction , of which some of them are in a very advanced phase, so they will soon be sent to the Anti-Doping Sanctioning Committee for resolution."

Indeed, the figures from the report are devastating, as of the 47 cases opened in 2024, plus three carried over from 2023, only one has been resolved . "In 2023, we resolved 52% of the cases we had," José Luis Terreros tells El Confidencial. "Furthermore, the blood samples they analyze are only 3%, while in 2023 we reached 20%. And all this in an Olympic year. The delay in resolution is what leads to the appearance of expired cases, three so far," adds the former director of CELAD.

Chapado's resignation

Although the news has gone unnoticed, even by those who had the obligation to know and no one has communicated it, as reported by Marca , this excessive negligence and incompetence in the fight against doping has led the president of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation (RFEA), Raúl Chapado, to resign from his position on the Governing Council of CELAD .

A position he was kept in by the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and Sánchez's super-minister, Alejandro Blanco , when the Secretary of State for Sport and, by extension, president of CELAD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, executed José Luis Terreros, as they say, at dawn and without a drum. However, Chapado chose to look the other way at the time.

As José Luis Terreros asks, "Will the president of this independent anti-corruption agency be a sitting Secretary of State and be able to dismiss the director if he doesn't like what he's investigating?" This is how the Spanish anti-doping fight and Spanish sport in general work. Without a ministry of its own and, what's worse, with a super-minister who is like a dog in the manger: he neither acts nor lets others act.