Under the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL), a facility whose accreditation has been revoked is ineligible to perform testing of doping control samples for any testing authority.

Any such step would cause intense embarrassment to Brazilian authorities and could pose an additional problem to FIFA, with the World Cup scheduled to kick off in Brazil little more than nine months' later.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) moved to suspend accreditation of the laboratory, which is also known as Ladetec, last week.

It said at the time that a further decision regarding possible revocation of the accreditation would be made by WADA's Executive Committee.

insidethegames has now been told that this decision will come in early September.

The reason for the initial suspension has still not been made clear.

It was imposed from August 8, less than a year after the laboratory was reinstated following a partial suspension from January 2012.

A false test involving volleyballplayer Pedro Solberg Salgado triggered the suspension of the Rio doping control lab last year





This partial suspension related specifically to the conducting of isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) testing on samples - the element of its operation which had caused it falsely to report that Brazilian beach volleyball player Pedro Solberg Salgado had tested positive for testosterone.

WADA said that the laboratory could appeal its suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland "within 21 days of receipt of notice".

WADA's Executive Committee is a 12-member body including four current International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and Sports Ministers from four different continents.

Two years after Brazil stages the FIFA World Cup, Rio de Janeiro will host the other great global sports extravaganza - the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Rio 2016 announced in March that a planned new home for the laboratory had started to take shape, with construction expected to be concluded in the first half of 2014.

It said that 7,000 tests would be carried out in the new building during the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

The only other WADA-accredited laboratory in South America at present is in Colombia, although there are also facilities in Cuba and Mexico.