Rogge wants cheats banned from 2012 Olympics

Olympic president Jacques Rogge wants tougher measures in place for any athlete caught cheating in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He told Reuters that he wants any athlete who tests positive, even for a minor offence, automatically banned from the next Olympics - the 2012 London Games. "If you cheat, there will be no Olympic Games... that is the message," Rogge said,

The IOC's Executive Board met in Osaka, Japan, to discuss measures to fight doping in sport. Rogge explained, "The fight against doping in sport is a daily battle which must be fought in concert by the sports authorities, sports teams, athletes, coaches and governments." He continued, "The measures that we have reviewed today aim to reinforce the IOC's zero-tolerance policy."

The measures recommend that any athlete who is found guilty and given a ban of six months or more resulting from a drugs test at the Beijing Games would be prevented from competing in London, however cooperation with authorities could get them a lesser penalty. "If an athlete reveals who gave him the EPO for example, who was behind it, was it the doctor or coach etcetera. If he tells of other cases… if the information is very valuable then we might consider reducing the penalty," Rogge said.