Anti-doping agency to consider more flexible sanctions

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Jan 24 (Reuters) The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called for more flexible sanctions against athletes who test positive for banned substances.

Speaking at a conference today, WADA chairman Dick Pound said he would like to see lengthier bans for ''systematic cheats'' but also the possibility of reduced punishments for those who test positively accidentally.

''We are trying not to weaken our stance, but we feel a bit awkward imposing a two-year ban on someone who, when all is said and done, has not been doping,'' Pound said.

Under current anti-doping regulations, athletes who test positive for a substance or method in WADA's annually revised prohibited list receive a mandatory ban of two years unless they can prove they committed ''no fault'' or ''no significant fault''.

The new proposals would give the authorities more leeway in cases where athletes appeared to have taken substances accidentally.

WADA director general David Howman said the two-year minimum ban would continue to apply for ''serious'' substances such as EPO and anabolic steroids.

Lesser sanctions would only be possible for substances such as cannabis, which is included on WADA's ''specified substances'' list, and stimulants including amphetamines.

COMPELLING CASE ''Strict liability would still apply as the onus would be on the athlete to justify to a panel that a lesser sanction is justified,'' said Pound.

''If there is a compelling case that there was a real accident then it doesn't seem right to treat that person the same as someone who tests positive for the deliberate use of steroids.'' In the latter case, Pound insisted that two-year bans were often insufficient.

''That's the important part -- that we can go higher in cases of organised doping. I doubt we'll ever get as far as having life bans, as some people have already suggested, but it's certainly worth thinking about more than two years.'' WADA officials, who are due to address representatives of the individual Olympic sports federations on Thursday, said the proposals were part of ongoing discussions towards formal policy decisions at WADA's next World Conference in Madrid in November.

WADA's support for longer bans follows similar calls by world athletics' governing body, the IAAF.

At its own Lausanne meeting last October, the IAAF came out in tentative favour of four-year bans for ''proven aggravated doping cases'' and said it would hold a vote on the issue at its next Congress in August.

REUTERS PM PM1738