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Aussies banned from injecting themselves

July 13, 2004 12:18 IST
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Australia's athletes have been warned they face expulsion from the Athens Olympics if they are caught injecting themselves with legal vitamins and supplements.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Tuesday it had placed an immediate ban on all self-injections as part of a major crackdown on drug use.

AOC president John Coates said exceptions would be made for insulin dependent diabetics and athletes needing adrenalin for severe allergic reactions but everyone else would need approval.

"Any athlete who wishes to use an injected form of vitamin, supplement or medication must present to a team medical practitioner and seek approval to do so from the team medical director," Coates said in a statement.

Coates said athletes who needed injections for prescribed medicines would need the permission of the team doctor and the procedure would be supervised. But he said athletes wanting vitamin and supplement injections would not be given approval, except in extraordinary cases.

"Approval will only be given for valid medical reasons," Coates said.

"Because doping is a strict liability offence under the World Anti-Doping Code and athletes are personally and fully responsible for everything they use or ingest.

"Athletes are strongly cautioned not to take or use vitamins or supplements without the prior approval of the Team Medical Director."

The ban on injections followed an earlier AOC announcement that it had delayed the naming of its team for Athens to carry out background checks on all athletes.

Coates said all team members had been cleared by the Australian Sports Drug Agency but the AOC was still waiting for Customs officials to complete their checks.

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Source: REUTERS
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