KUALA LUMPUR, May 23: Iran has demanded Israel be banished from the Olympic Games for “genocide”, insisting on the expulsion in a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), officials said Thursday.

The letter was handed to IOC President Jacques Rogge on Wednesday at the start of a four-day general assembly here of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Rogge said the letter would be tabled at an IOC executive board meeting this weekend, but indicated the Iranian call would be rejected.

He told delegates the IOC “has always had (a) policy of not letting politics into sport.”

IOC member Alex Gilady told AFP the board would likely follow Rogge’s lead.

“In the Olympics, we put politics aside and focus on sports. It is up to the president to decide but everyone should have a fair chance to participate. Olympics is about peace, not war,” he said.

Iran’s delegates were not available for comment.

IOC officials said the Iranian letter accused Israel of “genocide” and said it should be expelled from future Olympic Games.

Israel’s Olympic committee president Zvi Varshaviak said both sides of the Middle East divide could set aside their differences and work towards peace in the Olympic Games.

“The Olympics is not about fighting. With sports, we can develop peace and work towards it,” he said.

Palestinian representative Akram Zaher supported Iran’s move and said he hoped the IOC would ban Israel as it did South Africa in 1964 over its apartheid policies.

He said the Palestinian team, which was accepted into the Olympic family in 1996, would continue to participate in the Games as it was an “important platform” in its campaign for an independent state.

Only two Palestinians competed at the 2000 Sydney Games, and there were plans to send six to Athens in 2004, Zaher said.

“We hope to build the team to about 20 to 30 for the 2008 Beijing Games. It is an important platform for us to be recognised as a people with the right to be in the Olympics family.”

Meanwhile, Olympic officials stressed the urgent need to harmonise anti-doping regulations across the world and warned they were fighting a losing battle against drugs.

Feliciano Mayoral, secretary general of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), told the 600-odd delegates here that doping not only posed a threat to athletes but stripped sports of all credibility.

“We are far from having won the fight against it. Despite all our efforts, doping is becoming unbeatable,” he said.

Mayoral, a Spaniard, said the hope lies with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

But he said the war against doping until now has not been effective due to lack of harmonisation in the rules and procedures.

“Such confusion is making the war against doping weak,” he said.

Mayoral described the presence of different sanctions in different countries as “discrimination to athletes.”

“Some athletes when tested positive for drugs get suspended for a few months others get suspended for a few years. We must apply the same sanction to all.”

Citing Italy as an example, Mayoral said that if an athlete tests positive for drugs, it becomes a criminal offence and he or she is liable to be jailed for two years.

But the law is different in other European countries.

Mayoral said there was a need to standardise the list of banned substances.

“We are in a real emergency now. We need to harmonise the rules,” he said. “Otherwise, we will end up only speaking about doping and face defeat in the battle.”

Kevan Gosper, ANOC vice-president, said that sports officials must concentrate on educating atheletes to avoid drugs.

“They must be warned of the bad reputation it will bring to them and their family if they are caught taking drugs,” he said.

Mario Vazquez Rana, ANOC president and IOC member, reminded delegates that any athlete who was under sanction should not be allowed to participate in the Olympics and other regional games.

A draft resolution on anti-doping obtained by AFP calls for potential Olympic athletes to make themselves available at all times to WADA for unannounced out-of-competition testing as well as in-competition testing.

The draft, which is expected to be adopted Friday, urges all potential Olympic athletes to join the Athletes’ Passport Program, which would provide up-dated information on the whereabouts of the athlete.

The week-long International Olympic Committee (IOC)-ANOC get-together in the Malaysian capital is also due to discuss the size and shape of future Olympic Games.—AFP