The Danish anti-doping authority, Anti Doping Danmark, has made a public apology today after accusing 22 fitness centre users of doping based on incorrectly administered laboratory tests.

The anti-doping agency had used the Danish Technological Institute to analyse the doping samples collected from the Danish fitness centres, and it is believed that due to an incorrect sample analysis procedure at the institute, some samples were wrongly classified as positive.

“We deeply regret the trouble and insecurity that the dubious analyses have imposed on the people involved,” Lone Hansen, the head of Anti Doping Danmark, said in a press release. “All 22 people have been notified and have been informed that their sanctions have naturally been annulled.”

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Co-operation ended
The seriousness of the laboratory blunder has led to Doping Danmark ending its co-operation with the Danish Technological Institute, citing a lack of quality control at the institute.

“The report showed that there had been a procedural error during the analysis of these samples, and because this error was not detected by the lab's standard quality control, we at Anti Doping Danmark view the case as being serious enough to end our co-operation with the Danish Technological Institute,” Hansen said.

All of the samples analysed by the Danish Technological Institute between August 1 and January 7 have been annulled. The samples involved were taken at fitness centres, not professional athletes, whose samples are handled by the international anti-doping agency, WADA.