LONDON, July 27: No track and field athletes are involved in a Spanish investigation into doping, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on Thursday.

In a statement on their Web site, the IAAF said its president Lamine Diack had contacted the Spanish Ministry of Sport and received a letter confirming that the investigation was linked only to the sport of cycling.

“In this letter, the Minister confirms that his report from Spain's Guardia Civil, which is the entity carrying out the investigation, does not include any athletes' names or the identification of any other people except those directly related to the sport of cycling,” the IAAF said.

The doctor at the centre of the inquiry, Eufemiano Fuentes, has said he treated athletes, footballers and tennis players as well as cyclists.

Tour de France favourites Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo were among nine riders withdrawn on the eve of the race after being included on a list of over 50 professional cyclists involved in the probe.

The investigation came to light when the Spanish Civil Guard raided addresses in Madrid and Zaragoza in May and found large quantities of anabolic steroids, equipment used for blood transfusions and more than 100 bags of frozen blood.— AFP