Linford Christie may after all be allowed to coach his athletes in Sydney's Olympic stadium next month, despite the confirmation of his drug ban, because the British Olympic Association (BOA) is expected to grant him accreditation to its training camp on Australia's Gold Coast.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it is up to the BOA whether it also grant Christie accreditation to enter the Olympic stadium and warmup track as a coach.

However, the BOA's likely decision flies in the face of its hitherto hardline stance of refusing credentials to anyone convicted of a drugs offence, and comes only two weeks after Princess Anne backed the policy publicly. "We asked the athletes, and they told us they wanted a lifetime ban for doping offenders," she said.

The BOA, which expects to announce the Christie decision today, has contacted David Moorcroft, the chief executive of UK Athletics, for his views and he has backed Christie. "We are perfectly happy for him to carry on his coaching duties at the training camp," said a spokeswoman for UK Athletics.

The BBC has decided against using Christie as an analyst in Sydney, but the BOA's decision will allow the former Olympic 100 metres gold medallist to join Katharine Merry, Darren Campbell and Jamie Baulch as they prepare for the Games.

The BOA view is that if Christie were denied accreditation he and his group would simply relocate to the nearby Couran Cove, the training resort managed by the former Australian runner Ron Clarke, when UK Athletics would rather they be part of the official party.

Christie based himself at Couran Cove earlier this year after the New South Wales government banned him from the facilities in Sydney because of his drugs ban. That exclusion order will not apply during the Games because the facilities come under the jurisdiction of the IOC.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) ruled on Monday that Christie and his fellow athletes Dougie Walker and Gary Cadogan would be banned for two years even though they had been cleared by UK Athletics over a positive test for the banned steroid nandrolone.