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'Convicted cheats not welcome'
14/02/2008 11:25 - (SA)
London - British sprinter Dwain Chambers will not be welcome at any of the 51 European events run by organisers of the prestigious Golden League, British newspapers reported on Thursday.
The former drugs cheat was named on Tuesday in Britain's
squad for next month's world indoor championships in Valencia
but the president of the Euromeetings Group confirmed that he
would not be welcome at its events.
Rajne Soderberg said Chambers would fall foul of his
organisation's tough anti-doping stance.
"We have agreed not to invite these (convicted) athletes
ever again. These people cause the sport so much damage. It
cannot be forgiven," Soderberg told newspapers.
"In October, the general assembly of the Euromeetings Group
had an agreement to follow the recommendation not to invite
athletes who have come back from a doping offence.
"We do not feel it is harsh. We believe there are so
many other athletes that have not been banned for a doping offence so we would rather put our money and efforts into athletes that do not have this baggage," he said in The Daily Express.
Rubber-stamp
"We would prefer to focus on the people that are not
cheating."
The Euromeetings Group is due to meet on the final day of
the March 7-9 world indoor championships to rubber-stamp the
decision.
UK Athletics (UKA) conceded on Tuesday that it was forced
to select Chambers for the worlds under its own rules after he
served his ban and won the 60m at the British trials.
Chambers, 29, tested positive for the designer steroid THG
in 2003 and was banned for two years. He later admitted he had
been taking the banned substance for 18 months before he was
caught.
He tried unsuccessfully to forge a career in American
football and was a member of Britain's gold-medal winning 4x100m
relay team at the 2006 European championships.
Chambers is banned from the Beijing Olympics under British
Olympic Association rules.
Thursday's edition of The Guardian said Chambers' hopes of
earning enough money to appeal against his Olympic ban looked
in tatters after two of the world's leading athletics promoters
said they did not want him back.
- Reuters
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