IAAF to reintroduce 4 year bans for doping...

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced that from 2015, athletes found guilty of using banned substances will be given a four year ban instead of the current two. It was cut to two years in 1997 to bring it in line with other international sports bodies but it has meant that some athletes could cheat and still be ready for the next Olympics.

In a statement, the IAAF said..."The IAAF has an ethical obligation to the overwhelming majority of athletes and officials who believe in clean sport. The new Wada code, which will come into force on 1 January, 2015, will reflect our firm commitment to have tougher penalties and the IAAF will return to four-year sanctions for serious doping offences. As a leader in this fight, the IAAF has built and delivers a programme that is well resourced, far reaching, sophisticated and increasingly able to detect and remove from the sport those who breach our anti-doping rules."

IAAF vice-president Sergey Bubka said..."It's the only way to succeed - we must be harsh, we must be strong. Clearly today it's unpleasant to see some positive cases but we can see systems start to work, and really well. We will continue to fight. We understand it is tough but we are getting stronger and we will continue to do our best."

This new move from the IAAF will be welcomed by most people involved in athletics. A four year ban is a good part of any athletes career and considering that the Olympic cycle is every four years then this is a real deterrent.