Brazil’s sports minister on Thursday said a problem that caused a suspension last month of an anti-doping lab in Rio de Janeiro has been corrected and that officials expect its accreditation to be renewed in time for the Olympics next month.
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“Apparently the Olympic Games will proceed but houses were removed in the city, pollution in Guanabana bay has not been cleaned, they’ve spent millions and millions and now they’re cutting jobs in education and health, just citing the two most important areas”, said protester, Milton.
“We can guarantee, as has the World Health Organization (WHO), that there is nearly no risk of cases of the Zika virus occurring during the Games”, he said in a statement on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
If the suspension were to remain in place, urine and blood samples from Olympic athletes during the Summer Games – which run August 5-21 – would have to be transported to other WADA-accredited labs around the world for analysis. Brazil has been the hardest hit of the approximately 60 countries that have reported an outbreak of Zika. The Zika virus has prompted some athletes to stay home.
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Picciani, appointed to his post in May by acting president Michel Temer, also said suspended president Dilma Rousseff would be invited to attend the opening ceremony, along with other living former heads of state.
