Russian lab's flaws throw Olympic testing into limbo Less than three months before the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics, the anti-doping laboratory in Russia charged with conducting drug screenings at those Winter Games has been deemed unreliable and may lose its authority to test Olympic athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency learned this week that the drug-testing facility in Moscow had fallen below the agency's standards. A team of laboratory experts reported those findings to officials at the anti-doping agency and recommended that the lab be stripped of its accreditation. That would leave the Sochi Games, in February, without a competent drug-testing facility in the same country. The World Anti-Doping Agency president, John Fahey, said Friday that he would decide whether or how to discipline the lab. "The paperwork is extensive," Fahey said here at the conclusion of the agency's four-day World Conference on Doping in Sport. It needs to be worked through in the proper fashion to get the correct outcome. Fahey would not elaborate on the problems. Over the summer, the Russian lab discovered seven positive samples from the world track and field championships in Moscow, and all seven athletes immediately accepted penalties or temporary bans. Anti-doping officials with knowledge of the situation said the Russian lab had produced false-positive tests during the anti-doping agency's routine evaluation process, which entails blind and double-blind testing of urine and blood samples for banned drugs. Testers at the lab also failed to catch samples that contained banned drugs. That would be less of a problem than the false positives, but still of major concern, those officials said, because it signals that the lab is unable to perform its job. Those officials did not want their names used because the case is continuing. If Fahey decides to revoke the lab's accreditation, it will be a huge embarrassment for Russia, which already has come under worldwide scrutiny for its anti-gay legislation in the months leading up to the games. The lab's failure would also show that the organizing committee made a huge financial miscalculation. The budget for the Sochi Games is expected to be more than $50 billion, making it one of the most expensive games. The ski jump alone cost $265 million - more than six times what was budgeted for its construction. Now the games" organizers will have to scramble to improve the drug testing at the Russian lab, if there is time. Russia, however, is not the only host of a major international sporting event that has been shown to have inadequate drug testing facilities. In August, less than a year before the World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, the anti-doping agency revoked the accreditation of the lab in Rio de Janeiro, the host city. Anti-doping officials said the lab had repeatedly produced false positives when the anti-doping agency tested it. The Rio lab does not have enough time to regroup, hire new staff members and set up a proper drug testing facility with the World Cup approaching, said Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission and a vice president of the agency. Instead, urine and blood samples collected at the World Cup will be tested at an accredited lab in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to FIFA, world soccer's governing body. While that plan will be costly, it is FIFA's only option given the timing of the tournament, which begins June 12. Russia has even less time: The Sochi Games open Feb. 7, and the first medals will be awarded a day later. Ljungqvist said that sending athletes" samples to Switzerland from Brazil for the World Cup should not pose much of a problem, because so few players are tested after every match. At the Olympics, the number of athletes tested is often much higher. In Sochi, the IOC plans to conduct 2,457 tests just before and during the games, placing anti-doping scientists on a grueling schedule. Typically, they analyze a constant battery of urine and blood samples and work through the night so each sample can be tested. That timetable is maintained so medal winners who test positive can be penalized as soon as possible, allowing deserving medalists to enjoy the reward and acclaim while at the games, instead of later. With such a tight deadline, Ljungqvist said, it would be impossible for the drug tests from the Sochi Games to be sent to a lab that is not nearby. So, in Sochi's case, the IOC, the anti-doping agency and the organizing committee for the games will have to work together to find a solution. It is too late for them to model their facility after the one at the London Games, which cost more than $16 million and had a pharmaceutical company as its sponsor. Dick Pound, the former chairman of the anti-doping agency, shook his head Friday when asked about Sochi's woes. "People would need to be in place there well in advance of the games, and the lab needs to be up and running early for us to do the proper testing," Pound said. A problem like this cannot be solved overnight.