27 Nov 2012

IOC backs WADA move to raise doping penalties

6:19 pm on 27 November 2012

The International Olympic Committee is backing the World Anti-Doping Agency's move to raise the penalty for serious breaches of doping rules from two to four years.

The IOC president Jacques Rogge says the plan which is set to come into effect in 2015, is in line with the IOC's Osaka Rule.

That rule was aimed at stopping athletes found guility of doping from participating in the next Olympics, if they were suspended for more than six months.

That rule was annulled last year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which disagreed with the double punishment of an athlete who had had already completed a suspension but was then also banned from the Games if they'd already served their time.

If the suspension is expanded from two years to four for serious doping cases, the sanction will now cover one complete Olympic cycle.