SEGAS, IAAF talk about athletes evading drug tests
Greece’s track and field federation president plans to meet with a top official from the sport’s international body following a dispute over drug testing for Greek athletes, a statement said yesterday. Vassilis Sevastis, president of the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS), expects to lead a delegation to meet tomorrow with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) General-Secretary Istvan Gyulai in Monte Carlo to discuss «emergency checks and the problems that have come up,» SEGAS said. A report by the IAAF last month said seven Greek athletes could not be found, on at least three different occasions each, to administer out-of-competition tests for banned substances. Gyulai had told The Associated Press an IAAF letter to SEGAS asked for «better cooperation… in order to avoid unnecessary embarrassment before the Olympic Games.» SEGAS had said all its athletes had been tested without problems and had urged the State to protect the athletes from a «coordinated and escalating mudslinging attack.» The SEGAS delegation to Monte Carlo will also include national team coach Odysseas Papatolis, the federation’s international relations secretary, Giorgos Konstantopoulos, and health committee chief Michalis Averkiou. (AP/Kathimerini)
