International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge yesterday took a thinly-veiled swipe at the lenient penalties imposed on top footballers for doping offences.
Belgian Rogge, a former Olympic sailor and one-time rugby international, made his comments in an interview with Italian sports paper Gazzetto dello Sport.
Asked about the lack of standardisation of doping penalties Rogge said: "Today there are unjustifiable discrepancies between different nations and between different sports.
"I am thinking of the two-year ban for track and field athletes (who have failed dope tests) and four month bans for football," said Rogge. "You in Italy already know something about that."
Last season several professional footballers failed dope tests in Italy - notably Juventus and Holland midfielder Edgar Davids and Lazio and Portugal defender Fernando Couto. Eventually they only served four-month bans.
In contrast two of Italy's leading athletes - marathon runner Roberto Barbi and 800m specialist Andrea Longo - are serving respectively four and two-year bans from competition after failing dope tests.
Rogge vowed to make a success of the fledgling World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which has been criticised by European Commissioner Viviane Reding, who hails from Luxemburg. "Reding has criticised (WADA)," admitted Rogge. "She wants to construct a directly-funded European body. I admire her energy but I defend WADA."
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