Sports
Polish Anti-Doping Agency Targeted in Cyber Attack, ‘Fake’ Test Results Leaked
Poland’s Anti-Doping Agency (POLADA) said on Wednesday it was the victim of a cyber attack that led to the leaking of false data of positive tests of a number of athletes.
Many of Poland’s most high-profile athletes were mentioned in the alleged leaks, including tennis world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski, who has been one of Europe’s leading footballers for more than a decade.
The alleged leaks were then shared on social media before being described as ‘fake’ by POLADA.
A statement from the agency on
“All these messages are intended to discredit Polish athletes, who do not deserve it because they compete cleanly. None (sic) of these (sic) athletes were positive and none (sic) of the data presented corresponds to the doping controls that were carried out.”
The information in this post about Polish athletes is fake. All these messages are intended to discredit Polish athletes, who do not deserve it because they compete cleanly. None of these athletes were positive and none of the data presented corresponds to the doping controls that were carried out.
— Polska Agencja Antydopingowa (@POLADA_official) August 14, 2024
This was stated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the authority dealing with doping in tennis The Athletics that their data contained no evidence of any adverse findings for Swiatek.
The agency’s data includes the period when Swiatek is said to have tested positive, even though anti-doping fell under the purview of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at the time.
In a subsequent tweet, POLADA wrote: “In connection with the hacking attack, we inform you that data is being used by cybercriminals for various purposes, including broadly disinformation.
“Fake news has appeared in the public domain that discredits Polish athletes. Please don’t duplicate them.
“None of the athletes mentioned will achieve a positive result and none of the terms presented correspond to anti-doping controls performed.”
— Polska Agencja Antydopingowa (@POLADA_official) August 14, 2024
When contacted for comment, the Swiatek camp referred to POLADA’s statements.
POLADA is the National Anti-Doping Organization (NADO) recognized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for Poland.
WADA is responsible for coordinating anti-doping rules and policies for all sports, including tennis and football.
Lewandowski’s representatives have also been contacted for comment.
(Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
