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| August 07, 2006 | Monday | Rajab 11, 1427 |
IAAF chief calls for four-year bans
GOTHENBURG, Aug 6: The president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) wants athletes who test positive for substances such as steroids to be banned for four years.
“We want to move towards four-year bans,” Lamine Diack told reporters on Sunday in Gothenburg, where the European athletics championships start on Monday.
“We cannot accept any doubts about the performances of our athletes.”
Diack's proposal came a few days after Olympic and world 100 metres champion Justin Gatlin said he had tested positive for testosterone, dealing a serious blow to the showcase Olympic sport.
Under the current rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), athletes face a two-year suspension for a first doping offence and a life ban in case of a second.
The four-year bans would apply for positive tests for only some performance-enhancing drugs including steroids and erythropoietin (EPO), Diack said.
The four-year ban proposal would be on the agenda of the ruling body's next congress in August 2007 in Osaka, Japan, he added.—Reuters
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