Athletes who commit doping offences could be banned from the following Olympics after a revision to the WADA code.
Doping offenders could be banned from following Olympics
Athletes who commit serious doping offences could be banned from the following Olympic Games after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) added a new provision to their code.
The revised draft of the code means drug cheats could be suspended for one Olympic cycle even if their original ban has been served before the Games commences.
If the revision is approved it will mark a return to the prospective situation before London 2012, when the International Olympic Association banned drug cheats from competing in the next Olympics after their sanction.
However, that rule was scrapped when American athlete LaShawn Merritt won a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport that argued the rule violated WADA's global anti-doping code.
But WADA itself is now set to adopt the rule, which will be discussed by sports governing bodies for consultation ahead of its likely approval in the autumn of next year.
The new provision states: "Where an athlete or other person has been sanctioned for an anti-doping rule violation other than under Articles 10.3.3 (Filing Failures and Missed Tests), 10.3.4 (Prohibited Association), 10.4 (Specified Substances), or 10.5.2 (No Significant Fault or Negligence), and Article 10.5.3 (Substantial Assistance) is not applicable, then, as an additional sanction, the athlete or other person shall be ineligible to participate in the next Summer Olympic Games and the next Winter Olympic Games taking place after the end of the period of ineligibility otherwise imposed."
The rule change also comes after the British Olympic Association (BOA) lost their bid to keep a lifetime Games ban for those found guilty of drug offences.
BOA chairman Lord Moynihan had previously called for a firmer stance from WADA, citing the existing two-year ban as insufficient to deter drug cheats in Olympic sports.
