Russian seven to face disciplinary hearings

Athletics chiefs will allow the Russian federation to pursue disciplinary hearings against seven athletes recently banned for doping offences.

The seven were temporarily suspended by the IAAF after it was alleged last year they had made a fraudulent switch of urine samples.

The IAAF and Russian federation announced that out-of-competition tests held in May 2007 and then at last year’s world championships in Osaka produced urine samples from the athletes that did not match, but no action was initially taken, mainly for legal reasons.

This year’s world indoor 1500 metres champion Yelena Soboleva was the biggest name announced and she, like some of the others who had qualified, was axed from Russia’s Olympic team.

Russian president Valentine Balakhnichev surprised those present at today’s IAAF Council meeting by revealing they are now considering introducing new criminal laws related to doping offences.

Balakhnichev, himself a council member, added that an independent Russian anti-doping agency, established this spring, was already making a big impact against doping in his country.

It was agreed that although the IAAF was involved as a partner in the testing procedures, which saw stringent albeit provisional bans administered with the Games so close, the Russians should conduct the hearings with each athlete.

“I don’t think we can talk about this today,” said IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss. “The ball is in their (Russian Federation) court now and they will take whatever decision is necessary.

“After the Games we will be able to say some more about this, but for the moment it would be premature to say anything.”

Weiss did add: “We have 12 people in Monaco working full time on doping every day of the week, scientifically and legally trying to counter this plague in our sport.”

It was also announced that the United States should be stripped of its 1998 world 4x400m world record after the recent confession of team member Antonio Pettigrew that he used human growth hormone and EPO during a period of six years.

The ’new’ record will still belong to the USA and was set at the 1993 World Championships when the quartet of Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Harry ’Butch’ Reynolds and Michael Johnson clocked a time of two minutes 54.29 seconds in Stuttgart.