Olympic ban to be included in WADA code change

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is to bring in measures to exclude athletes convicted of doping offences from their next potential Olympic Games - even if the ban imposed by their sport's governing body runs out beforehand.

Proposed changes to the WADA code, which are due for approval next year and are intended to be fully implemented in 2015, come on the back of the high profile case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) involving the British Olympic Association (BOA). CAS ruled that a lifetime ban imposed by the BOA on convicted dopers violated WADA's existing code, which already provided guidelines for punishments and sanctions.

The new rules are explicitly laid out in article 10.15 of the proposal:

"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."

British cyclist David Millar is one of the main beneficiaries of the CAS ruling by the BOA. Originally banned from competing at the London 2012 Olympics due to a positive dope test in 2004, Millar is now eligible for selection to the British team.