The attitude adopted by three international sports federations towards athletes caught using performance enhancing drugs is causing "very serious concern" to the Minister for Tourism and Sport Dr Jim McDaid.

Tennis Ireland, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Federation of Irish Cyclists (FIC) have been asked by the Minister to ascertain the view of their international federations and to give their own view on the issue of athletes caught taking performance enhancing substances. He called on the sports bodies to "convey the disappointment of the Irish Government at the approach adopted."

This referred to the stance adopted by the governing bodies of the three federations following the World Conference on Doping in Sport held in Lausane last week.

In what was generally regarded as an extremely disappointing outcome to the conference, the tennis, soccer and cycling federations opposed the imposition of a standard sanction of two years for dope cheats. The final declaration adopted by the conference allowed for the possible modification of a two-year sanction.

In his letter to Jan Singleton of Tennis Ireland, the FAI's Bernard O'Byrne and Tony Allen of the FIC, Dr McDaid states: "I am concerned at what is at best an ambivalent attitude towards the issue of drugs in sport and the negative impact this will have both on the effort to form a united front against doping and with regard to the signals sent to young athletes."