The International Amateur Athletic Federation today rejected a British proposal to suspend disciplinary action against athletes who have tested positive for nandrolone pending further investigation into the anabolic steroid. U.K. Athletics chief executive David Moorcroft urged the IAAF last week to declare a moratorium on athletes who have tested positive for nandrolone.
The move comes less than a day after Linford Christie, Merlene Ottey and Javier Sotomayor amongst others were suspended from competition after the IAAF decided on Saturday to close a loophole in its doping regulations. All three had tested positive for banned substances and had their cases referred to an arbitration panel by the IAAF.
On Saturday, at the conclusion of the first day of an extraordinary two-day council meeting, the IAAF council accepted a German proposal that athletes whose cases were referred to arbitration be suspended until the panel announces its decision. Britain's former Olympic 100 metres champion Christie, Doug Walker and Gary Cadogan were cleared by UK Athletics after testing positive in separate cases for the steroid nandrolone. Their cases had been referred to the arbitration panel in November but they had been allowed to compete in the meantime.
The IAAF council decided to send the doping case of Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey to arbitration. Ottey, the most successful athlete in the history of the world championships, tested positive for nandrolone last year. She was subsequently cleared by the Jamaican federation. The offence, if proven, could lead to a two-year ban, ruling her out of the Sydney Olympics.
The decision comes hours just hours after the IAAF revealed that British pole-vaulter, Mike Edwards, tested positive for drugs last year but his case was not made public because he was subsequently cleared by his national federation. IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said Edwards had tested positive for a cocktail of drugs including the anabolic steroid stanozolol on March 3 last year. He had subsequently been cleared of a doping offence by the British governing body UK Athletics on December 21. The council decided to refer his case to its doping commission which can then recommend that it be handed to the IAAF's arbitration panel. If the panel of world athletics' ruling body do not accept UK Athletics' decision, Edwards faces a two-year ban.
Meanwhile, the IAAF this afternoon announced that a world rankings system similar to those used in tennis and golf will be introduced to athletics during the northern hemisphere summer season this year. IAAF spokesman, Giorgio Reineri, said athletes from all disciplines would be placed in one ranking list.
