DENVER -- The U.S. Olympic Committee has given USA Track & Field a month to cooperate in the Jerome Young doping case.

USOC president Bill Martin told USATF president Bill Roe and executive director Craig Masback in a letter Thursday that they must provide the IOC and IAAF with documents in the Young case by Feb. 24 or the USOC will begin decertification proceedings.

Martin also said USATF should provide a public apology for the problems its handling of the matter has caused the Olympic movement.

"For purposes of USATF's relationship with the USOC, resolution of this matter will require USATF to obtain demonstrable, verifiable evidence that the IOC and IAAF are satisfied with USATF's efforts to bring this matter to closure," Martin said.

USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer declined comment, saying only that the letter has been received and USATF officials are reviewing it.

Young tested positive for steroids in 1999, but was cleared on appeal and went on to win a relay gold medal for the United States at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations, track's world governing body, have repeatedly asked USATF to explain why Young was cleared. They have yet to receive an answer.

USATF officials, citing confidentiality rules, have refused to provide details or even acknowledge Young is the athlete in question. USATF also says it is bound by an arbitration court ruling upholding its decision to maintain secrecy on doping acquittals.

Martin said arguments for privacy don't apply because Young told the media that he was the athlete. He also chided Masback and Roe for failing to inform USATF's executive board of sanctions outlined in a Dec. 19 letter.

In the letter, the USOC said it will cut off negotiations for nearly $3 million in funding and deny USATF administrators accreditation to this summer's Athens Games until the Young case is resolved. Those sanctions remain in effect.

The IAAF is expected to take the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the sports world's highest court, and the IOC's executive board will likely bring it up at a meeting Jan. 27 in Athens.

Young and the rest of the 1,600-meter relay team, including Michael Johnson, could be stripped of their medals if the IOC finds Young was improperly cleared.

The USOC would govern track and field in the United States and select the U.S. Olympic team if USATF is stripped of its Olympic charter.