LONDON. Sept 8: UK Athlet- -ics has embarked on a collision course with the world governing body after its decision to clear former Olympic champion Linford Christie of a doping offence, reports Reuters.
..TW992 BarcelQna-J«MHe-trCswinner -was exonerated by a three-man disciplinary committee of the British governing body on Monday after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone last February.
Athletics, the major sports of the Olympic Games, has been hit by a series of drugs scandals this year.
The most prominent have involved Christie and Merlene Ottey, the Jamaican sprinter who has won more World
Championships medals than any other athlete.
Ottey withdrew from the Seville World Championships last month after testing positive; for nandrolone. She has denied taking any banned-.drugs ^^yowed to fight to clear her
A statement from YlK Athletics on Monday said the disciplinary panel had cleared Christie of all charges because it could not be proven that the substance found in Christie's urine had been caused by nandrolone.
"It could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the substance present in the sample was derived'Yfom a prohibited substance.” the statement said.
The explanation is unlikely to satisfy the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) which did not accept a similar finding in the case involving Britain's European 200 metres champion Doug Walker.
Walker had also tested positive for nandrolone. one of a series of positive cases involving the steroid this year across a variety of sports.
He was cleared by UK Athletics but the IAAF called the decision erroneous and has referred it to its arbitration panel.
"The criteria is whether a substance is in the body or not." said IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai.
Two years ago the British Athletics Federation went bankrupt, partly through legal costs incurred during the Diane Modahl doping case. •
The 1990 Commonwealth 800 metres champion was first banned, then cleared of taking the male sex hormone testosterone.
Civil actions by athletes found to have taken drugs, notably American former 400 metres world record holder Butch Reynolds, was one of the main reasons behind the IAAF's decision to move its headquarters from London to
Monaco, where it is not subject to English or European laws.
"With greater commercialisation there were more civil suits," an IAAF official said on Tuesday. "Athletes always, say they are innocent, then they sue."’,. .... .. unn5vo->
UK Athletics spokeswoman Jayne Pearce said on Tuesday it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the substance found in a urine sample taken from Chris! ie after an indoor meeting in Germany last February had' been caused by nandrolone.
Pearce said two other substances, which were not on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or IAAF banned lists at the time of the test, could have caused the positive result. The substances have since been placed on the IOC banned list and will be added to the IAAF's.
"The substance found in the urine sample could not be clearly related to a banned substance." Pearce stud.
Pearce said UK Athletics accepted the principle of strict liability.
"We agree with strict liability as well, if there’s a banned substance,” she said. "But there were two other substances as well as nandrolone which could have caused the finding."
The IAAF Doping Commission will now study the document relating to the Christie decision and made a recommendation to the IAAF Council which is due to meet in the third week of November. The Council can then refer the case to its arbitration panel.
The British decision will also be noted with interest by other sporting federations which have banned athletes who have tested'positive for nandroline.
They include Czech tennis player Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, and France's Olympic judo champion Djamel Bouras.