JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Even though it is highly unlikely that a new drug testing laboratory in Brazil will be ready for the World Cup next year, WADA President John Fahey says it's a problem FIFA should be able to overcome.
The World Anti-Doping Agency revoked the accreditation of the current Brazilian doping lab this year and a new one in Rio de Janeiro is being set up, but unlikely in time for the World Cup in June and July.
FIFA plans to fly samples from Brazil to Lausanne, Switzerland, for testing and Fahey cited an example of the IAAF transporting 40 samples from runners in a remote region in Kenya to Lausanne to show it is possible.
Fahey confirmed previous concerns that it's "almost certain" the new laboratory won't be ready for the World Cup.
"But FIFA, as an event organizer, will make arrangements to ensure their anti-doping program is still effective," Fahey said at the World Conference on Doping in Sport in South Africa. "Clearly that will involve another laboratory. There is a transportation challenge there but it's not an insurmountable challenge. You can move samples these days with aircraft and regular fights to other laboratories."
Brazil's anti-doping authority says it expects FIFA to conduct around 900 doping tests before and during the World Cup.
The Rio lab that Brazil was expecting to use was stripped of its accreditation in August by WADA, which cited "repeated failures" by the facility.
Fahey warned that despite time constraints, the new laboratory would not be fast-tracked for the 2016 Rio Olympics and had to be fitted out and staffed properly before it could gain accreditation.
"I don't think it's going to happen in a hurry," he said. "We will do our best to ensure it happens as soon as is possible but without compromising the quality that is essential ... for the work the laboratories must do."
