Longer bans sought

European athletics chief speaks out as punished Thanou makes return

Thanou (l) and Georgia Kokloni missed a flight to Birmingham when Thanou accompanied an ailing Kokloni to the bathroom.

BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – European Athletics (EA) have called for athletes found guilty of doping to be banned from taking part in world or area championships for a further two years.

The proposal is to be put to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) congress in Osaka in August.

“Quite simply, we are proposing that no athlete convicted of a doping offense and given a two-year suspension may take part, after the punishment concludes, in any world and/or area championships for a period of two years, which includes at least the next championships,” EA President Hansjoerg Wirz told a news conference yesterday.

Greece’s Katerina Thanou is competing at the European indoor championships in Birmingham this weekend after her two-year suspension for doping violations ended last December.

Britain’s Dwain Chambers won a relay gold medal at last year’s outdoor European championships, months after returning to action from his doping ban for a positive test for THG.

“After two years (athletes) can enter any competition but not a championship,” Wirz said of the proposal. “It’s a kind of a competition or entry rule and we are looking at that situation from the legal side because that has to be respected.”

The EA president did not rule out implementing the scheme independently if the IAAF rejected the rule change.

“We would look to see if it’s legally possible. It’s always a question of how legally it is accepted. If you make such a rule and then you lose all the time in court then it’s silly,” Wirz said.

Unlike organizers of events such as Golden League and grand prix meetings, EA and other associations are not able to choose which athletes take part in their competitions.

“According to our rules, the federation has the right to enter athletes and we have to accept if an athlete is eligible,” Wirz said. “A general rule, under such conditions that you cannot enter an athlete, is much more successful than going to each federation and asking them to withdraw the right they have,” he added.

[Meanwhile, Thanou and teammate Georgia Kokloni arrived in Birmingham several hours after the rest of the Greek team on Wednesday after missing a flight from Paris, where the squad was on transit to the British city. Reports said that Kokloni, troubled by an upset stomach, was accompanied to the airport’s toilets by Thanou, causing both women to miss the connecting flight.]