Poland’s anti-doping agency (POLADA) has confirmed they were the victims of a cyber attack that resulted in a series of false details being released online, with world No 1 tennis star Iga Swiatek caught up in the story.
A host of Polish sports stars were named after the story initially broke, with Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski and Swiatek among the highest profile.
Yet the claims proved to be completely false, with POLADA quick to release a statement to end any confusion
“Info presented in this post about Polish athletes is a fake,” read a statement on the X account of POLADA.
“All of these posts are aimed to discredit Polish athletes, who don’t deserve that because they compete clean. None of these athletes was positive and none of the presented dates is matching doping controls which were conducted.”
Another tweek confirmed this story was all due to a cyber attack as they POLADA added: “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.