OSAKA, Japan -- IOC President Jacques Rogge said serious
doping offenders would be banned from the next Olympics even if
their regular suspension had already ended.
Rogge told a news conference Friday that such a penalty could
effectively amount to a four-year ban for athletes.
"Every athlete who is penalized for more than six months --
which would automatically be the case for anabolic steroids, blood
transfusions and EPO -- could not participate in the next Games,"
he said after a meeting with the IAAF athletics federation.
The measure was part of a plan announced Friday to toughen the
fight against doping.
Rogge also strongly backed the IAAF's push to increase the
benchmark for serious first-time doping offenses in all sports from
two to four years.
The World Anti-Doping Agency will review its doping code at a
Nov. 15-17 conference in Madrid.