Daily Times

WASHINGTON – International sporting bodies have called for a thorough probe of the latest doping allegations that have plunged athletics into crisis just weeks before track and field’s showpiece event, another black eye for sport after the FIFA corruption scandal.

The US anti-doping agency said an aggressive review was needed to protect clean athletes after Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper and Germany’s ARD/WDR broadcaster reported on Sunday they had obtained secret data from the global athletics governing body, the IAAF, supplied by a whistleblower disgusted by the extent of doping.

The allegations have not been verified. The reports did not say that any athletes had failed doping tests, only that the tests had been abnormal, which can sometimes be a sign of cheating.The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has said it was very disturbed by the reports, which claim endurance runners suspected of doping had been winning a third of the medals at Olympic Games and world championships.

There was no clear evidence to explain the Sunday Times and ARD/WDR reports but the allegations are the latest setback to tarnish the multi-billion dollar world of sport after the scandal at soccer’s global governing body, FIFA.Athletics are a central part of the Olympics, the only sporting event that rivals soccer’s World Cup in scale and which collects billions of dollars from sponsors.

Athletics Australia (AA) welcomed WADA’s decision to investigate the alarming reports and said in a statement on Monday it was seeking more information.Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates described the reports as disturbing and said before an International Olympic Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that the AOC has a zero-tolerance approach to doping in sport.

The IAAF has yet to offer a detailed response to the contents of the reports, but noted they were based on confidential information obtained without permission.While not commenting directly on the reports, IAAF Vice President Sergey Bubka also said the IAAF has zero tolerance for doping.