Track And Field Body Ready To Cut Penalty

Track and field’s ruling body is ready to cut its penalty for drug use in half, following pressure from athletes and regional federations.

A ruling on the proposal, supported by the European federation, will probably be taken during a twoday meeting of the IAAF congress starting Wednesday.

The congress comes on the eve of the world track championships Aug. 1-10.

“The idea was accepted, so discussion on this probably won’t come up again at the council meeting,” Giorgio Reineri, spokesman for the International Amateur Athletic Federation, said Monday.

Several countries, including Germany, Spain, France and Russia, have refused to implement the current four-year ban. Some athletes have also been contesting such bans in their national courts and many have been returning to competition after two years, which would be the maximum penalty under the proposed change.

The congress had rejected a proposal to halve the ban at a meeting before the 1995 world championships in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Four-year bans were introduced in 1991 following an outcry after Ben Johnson was stripped of his 1988 Olympic gold medal. Last weekend a Canadian court refused to overturn a lifetime ban imposed on Johnson after a second positive drug test in 1993.