Subj: Olympics chiefs call for drugs summit after Tour scandals

Date: Aug 2, 1998

Source: The Scotsman

Olympics chiefs call for drugs summit after Tour scandals



THE International Olympic Committee has called a special 

executive committee meeting to discuss how to deal with 

illegal drugs in sport.



Prompted by the Tour de France drug scandals, the IOC 

president, Ivan Antonio Samaranch, has convened the meeting 

on 20 August with a single item on the agenda - the fight 

against doping in sport.



The IOC executive committee will also discuss the 

organisation of an international conference against drugs in 

sport in Lausanne in January 1999.



The IOC initiatives come amid the widespread doping scandal 

that has overshadowed the Tour de France, with numerous 

teams and riders under investigation for use of banned 

performance-enhancing drugs.



Mr Samaranch caused an uproar when he was quoted in a 

Spanish newspaper last Sunday as saying the IOC's list of 

banned drugs should be drastically cut and suggesting only 

substances which pose a health risk should be prohibited,



He has reassured sports administrators that IOC policy has 

not changed and that all performance-enhancing drugs should 

be banned.



A sixth TVM team rider, Jeroen Blijlevens, pulled out of the 

Tour de France during yesterday's stage. The team's 

director, Guido Van Calster, issued a statement on behalf of 

the riders saying the TVM team had been exhausted by the 

events of recent weeks and were 'not mentally or physically 

capable of finishing the tour".



Only 14 of the 21 teams that started the blighted tour 

remained, leaving only 87 riders - less than half the 

original field - at the start of the stage.



The Festina team were ejected after the performance-

enhancing drug EPO was found in a car driven by the team's 

physiotherapist. Several members of the Festina team 

subsequently admitted to using illegal drugs and six other 

teams have withdrawn as tbe drama of the investigation into 

drug use has continued.