Former Olympic champion Sergei Alifirenko, who pulled out of the Beijing Games citing an eye injury, was handed a two-year doping ban, the Russian shooting union (SSR) said on Wednesday.

SSR director Alexander Mitrofanov said Alifirenko was punished for taking the banned substance dexamethasone as part of his treatment for the eye disease.

"Of course, we were hoping that the International Shooting Federation (ISSF) would take into account several extenuating circumstances and issue a suspended sentence," Mitrofanov was quoted as saying by Russian news agency All Sport. "But the ISSF chose to take a formal approach."

Mitrofanov said Alifirenko would be offered a coaching post even before his ban would expire in April, 2010.

"We don't want him to waste his time and have offered him a coaching job in the Russian national team so he would share his great knowledge and experience with younger shooters," he said.

Alifirenko won gold in the men's 25-metre rapid fire pistol at the 2000 Sydney Games and a bronze in the same event four years later in Athens.

The 49-year-old was withdrawn from the Russian team and was sent home from Beijing on the eve of the Olympic competition, while his coach explained the sudden pull out by poor form.

Alifirenko's ban is the latest in a series of doping offences by Russian athletes in recent months.

Seven leading female athletes, including twice world 1,500 metres champion Tatyana Tomashova and world indoor 1,500 metres champion and record holder Yelena Soboleva, received two-year bans in October for manipulating their drug samples.