IAAF yet to comment on Gatlin ban

Athletics: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has still to comment on the eight-year suspension handed…

Athletics: The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has still to comment on the eight-year suspension handed down to drugs cheat Justin Gatlin.

The world and Olympic 100 metres champion was awarded what the world governing body might consider an inappropriate punishment, given this was his second anti-doping violation offence.

Last week IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss, made it plain if Gatlin was found guilty by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), he must receive a lifetime ban.

The IAAF Council also confirmed yesterday that Gatlin would be stripped of the 100m world record of 9.77seconds he shares with Asafa Powell.

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In China, the sports ministry has ordered an investigation into the alleged doping of teenage pupils at an athletics school in Liaoning province.

It has been reported that officials from the Chinese Olympic Committee's (COC) Anti-Doping Commission had caught staff at the school injecting students with banned substances while preparing for provincial games.

The substances included erythropoietin (EPO) and testosterone while further investigation revealed drugs and hypodermic needles in the headmaster's room, the report said.

Staff at the school face criminal charges under China's anti-doping code, which was enacted in February 2004.

After several high profile doping cases involving Chinese athletes in the 1990s and early part of this century, China has vowed to eradicate the use of banned substances ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.