A decision about whether to sanction any team or athlete over syringes found at the Commonwealth Games is expected later this afternoon.
Photo: 123rf
The Commonwealth Games Federation confirmed yesterday that needles and syringes had been found over the weekend at the athletes' village, on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
The federation has not named the team involved, but the Indian team has revealed the needles were found in their area.
A coach told host broadcaster, the Seven Network, they were used to give an unwell boxer a vitamin treatment.
Federation chief executive David Grevemberg said the medical investigation had finished and the matter had been escalated to the federation court, which was holding a hearing today.
A decision was likely to be announced later this afternoon, he said.
"This matter is now not defined as an anti-doping violation but as an infringement of the [federation's] no-needles policy."
The consequences would depend on the nature of the infringement, he said.
"The court has the ability to put sanctions, on behalf of the federation, on teams or invidividuals."
Both the impact and the motivation of what had happened would be considered, he said.
"Is it an ethical violation? Is it an administrative violation?"
The punishment would fit the crime, he said.
There had been a lot of speculation about the substance involved but the federation would not confirm the details until after the hearing had concluded.
"I'm going to wait until I can report comprehensively what our findings are," Mr Grevemberg said.
There were some exemptions to the no-needles policy and what had happened was a breach of that, rather than a security breach, he said.
Queensland deputy police commissioner Steve Gollshewski said the matter "is not and has not ever been a policing issue".
