Australian Olympians to sign no-doping past pledge

The Australian Olympic Committee has endorsed a selection policy proposal that will force all future Australian Olympic athletes and officials to sign a declaration revealing any past use of performance-enhancing drugs. Those who lie could face jail terms.

When AOC president John Coates announced his plan on Nov. 2, he said "if they don't sign, they don't go to the games, they won't be selected. What I don't want is for the AOC to have egg on its face like cycling has.''

On Friday, the AOC's executive board adopted the proposal _ Australia's response to the Lance Armstrong doping case which resulted in the American cyclist being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. Two senior Cycling Australia officials later quit after admitting doping during their racing careers.

AOC spokesman Mike Tancred said Friday from the Melbourne meeting that the declaration would relate only to performance-enhancing drugs, and would not affect members of junior teams.

The declaration would form part of the Team Agreement that must be signed before someone is selected to an Olympic squad. Coates said anyone caught lying could face criminal charges, and be imprisoned for five to seven years in some Australian states.

If adopted it would affect athletes in contention for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"In my opinion we simply cannot allow the name of the AOC to be damaged, like that of the International Cycling Union, for not having taken every reasonable step possible to ensure that no person in authority on our Olympic team has a doping history,'' Coates said when he announced the proposal.

Meanwhile, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority said it believed more riders who were involved in illegal drug use are considering confessing or providing information to the agency's investigation into cycling.

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