IAAF rejects doping claims

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has "strongly rejected" allegations of widespread doping at the highest level of the sport.

British newspaper The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD had revealed the surprising prevalence of abnormal blood tests in athletics, with access to 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012.

According to experts who studied the records, one-third of athletes who won endurance events at Olympic Games and world championships between 2001 and 2012 had submitted suspicious tests.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief, Sir Craig Reedie, predicted the revelations would "shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide."

However, the IAAF released a comprehensive defense of its anti-doping efforts and claimed the records obtained provide no evidence of doping in international athletics.

An official statement read: "The published allegations were sensationalist and confusing: the results referred to were not positive tests. In fact, ARD and The Sunday Times both admit that their evaluation of the data did not prove doping."

"The IAAF wants to stamp out all doping in sport and welcomes greater public debate," the statement continued, giving details of the organization's anti-doping efforts.

With more than 10 full-time personnel and a budget of 2.1 million euros ($2.3 million), the IAAF has completed 19,000 blood screening tests since 2001 as part of its efforts to weed out suspicious athletes.

rd/jh (AFP, Reuters)