Doping: Political sparks fly

2004-08-24 21:37

Athens - The Greek governnment and the opposition on Tuesday broke a tacit Olympic truce that surrounds the Games, trading sharp accusations about the doping scandals involving three competing Greek athletes.

Government spokesperson Theodore Roussopoulos accused the former Socialist government, ousted in the March general election, of negligence in its approach to the fight against doping.

"The legislative framework has existed since 1999, we had to wait until our arrival in power for it to be activated" and for the national anti-doping council to be equipped with offices and funds, he charged.

In a television interview, the state secretary for sports, Georges Orfanos, accused the previous government of continuing to work with Christos Tzekos, trainer of the sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou. Both athletes pulled out of the Games amid a cloud of doping allegations after they failed to show up for an unannounced doping test on the eve of the opening of the Games on August 13.

'We will empty the stadiums' warning

The Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was disqualified on Sunday after he tested positive for banned substances, and was asked to hand back his bronze medal.

Roussopoulos said the government was leading a counter-offensive after Socialist (Pasok) leaders accused it of seeking to evade its responsibilities over the doping scandals.

But Pasok denounced what it called "an attack completely orchestrated by the government press".

"If we carry on like this, we will empty the stadiums," cautioned Iannis Exarchos, a former senior Socialist official for sports, calling on all sides to stay calm until the Games are over.

The minority left-wing SYN party, meanwhile, called for the opening of a parliamentary inquiry into doping in sport.

- AFP