The Polish anti-doping agency (POLADA) said on Wednesday that it was the victim of a cyber attack that led to false details of positive tests from a number of athletes being leaked.
Many of Poland’s most high-profile athletes were listed in the supposed leaks, including tennis world No 1 Iga Swiatek and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, who has been one of Europe’s leading footballers for more than a decade.
The supposed leaks were then shared on social media before being described as “fake” by POLADA.
A statement from the agency on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a since deleted tweet outlining the allegations read: “Info presented in this post about Polish athletes is a fake.
“All of these posts are aimed to discredit Polish athletes, who don’t deserve that cause (sic) they compete clean. Non (sic) of this (sic) athletes was positive and non (sic) of presented dates is matching doping controls which were conducted.”
Info presented in this post about Polish athletes is a fake. All of this posts are aimed to discredit Polish athletes, who don’t deserve that cause they compete clean. Non of this athletes was positive and non of presented dates is matching doping controls which were conducted.
— Polska Agencja Antydopingowa (@POLADA_official) August 14, 2024
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the authority that deals with doping in tennis, has told The Athletic that their records have no evidence of any adverse findings for Swiatek.
The agency’s records includes the period Swiatek was alleged to have tested positive, even though at that time anti-doping fell under the remit of the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
In a subsequent tweet, POLADA wrote: “In connection with the hacking attack we inform you, that data is used by cyber criminals for various purposes, including widely understood disinformation.
“In the public domain fake news discrediting Polish athletes has appeared. Please do not duplicate them.
“None of the listed athletes will have a positive result and none of the terms presented correspond to conducted anti-doping controls.”
— Polska Agencja Antydopingowa (@POLADA_official) August 14, 2024
The Swiatek camp referred to POLADA’s statements when contacted for comment.
POLADA is the national anti-doping organisation (NADO) recognised by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for Poland.
WADA is responsible for coordinating anti-doping rules and policies across all sports, including tennis and football.
Lewandowski’s representatives have also been contacted for comment.
(Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
