Athletics: Priestley banned

Priestley: Suspended for two years

British hurdler Callum Priestley has been handed a two-year ban after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol.

Priestley was found to have the substance - a steroid used in asthma medication - in his system after being tested in South Africa earlier this year.

UK Anti-Doping have confirmed that the suspension will run until February 2012, with Priestley also facing a lifetime ban from the Olympics under British Olympic Association rules.

"One of the important aspects of the Callum Priestley case is that he was tested off season, out-of-competition, and indeed outside of the UK," UK Anti-Doping chief executive Andy Parkinson said.

"This is in keeping with UK Anti-Doping's focus on targeted, out-of-competition testing across all sports in their off season.

Warning

"This case should act as a warning to all athletes that there is no hiding place from their responsibilities, no matter where they are, or whether they are competing."

The National Anti-Doping Panel's written decision states that Priestly, who won the 60 metres hurdles at the world indoor trails in February, could not explain how the Clenbuterol came to be in his body.

He had suggested that it could have come from a contaminated supplement that he was taking on the advice of a nutritionist, but scientific tests did not detect any trace of those.

"The athlete now believes that the most likely source was meat from animals or poultry which had been treated with steroids, but again it has not proved possible to produce any scientific or other evidence to substantiate the theory that any meat which he ate in South Africa was so contaminated," the NADP report reads.

As Priestly could not prove fault or negligence on his part, the panel imposed a two-year ban backdated to his provisional suspension in February. He can appeal the decision.