The British Government yesterday called for the national sport drug testing authority to carry out a review of its procedures after former sprint champion Linford Christie tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
The 39-year-old athlete has vehemently denied taking the substance to boost his performance after traces of nandrolone were discovered in a urine sample at an indoor meeting in Germany in February.
Sports Minister Kate Hoey said in a letter to UK Sport's chairman Sir Rodney Walker that its system is the "most thorough and rigorous in the world".
But she went on: "A review of procedures will help to identify those areas which can be developed and those which work well."
She added: "It is essential that the UK's drug testing system retains the respect of those competitors it is meant to protect, the confidence of the governing bodies who may have to undertake complex, lengthy and expensive legal proceedings, and members of the public, who need to be sure that the races they see produce genuine results.
Current Olympic 100 metres champion Donovan Bailey has also sprung to Christie's defence.
"I don't know what has happened here because I could never believe that Linford knowingly took drugs," said the Canadian.
"This needs to be investigated and Linford will get my total support from now onwards."
World athletics' governing body the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) claimed yesterday that their hands were tied in the affair of Cuban high jump world champion Javier Sotomayor, who failed a drugs test for cocaine this week at the Pan American Games in Canada.
The IAAF said that it was not in their power to take action against the 31-year-old Cuban, but the Cuban Athletics Federation.
"It's an affair that concerns the Cuban federation and it's their responsibility to take the necessary action if it occurs that an athlete tests positive," explained an IAAF spokesman.
France's reigning double Olympic sprint champion Marie-Jose Perec yesterday all but ruled out her chances of competing in the World Championships in Seville later this month.
"I want to compete in the World Championships but I'm running 23.50 sec and that's no good," she said.
"My chances are one in 10.
`I'll make a decision on whether to go to Seville after the meeting in Cologne, even if I don't find a 400 metres event before August 10th to test myself," she said.
