Baumann can’t go to another panel again: IAAF

Sydney: Germany's former Olympic 5,000 metres champion Dieter Baumann has no right to take his "spiked toothpaste" doping case to another arbitration panel in a bid to make the Sydney Games, world athletics chiefs said on Tuesday.

Baumann's lawyer Michael Lehner said the runner planned an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to seek clearance to run in the September 27 heats for the 5,000 metres, which he won at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

But leading International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) official Arne Ljungqvist said, "The CAS is not in our rules."

IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri added, "Our rules are very clear. There is no appeal to CAS. And the eligibility of athletes (at the Games) is up to the international federations. That is clearly recognised by the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

"For us, it's over."

The IAAF's arbitration panel has already decided not to accept Baumann's contention that his toothpaste had been spiked with the anabolic steroid nandrolone. The German was handed a two-year ban on Monday.

The 35-year-old German tested positive twice for nandrolone last year but was cleared by his national federation.

The IAAF's ruling council was not satisfied with the decision and referred the case to its arbitration panel which met in Sydney last weekend.

Disputes

The IOC-backed CAS usually rules on disputes between competitors and sport's governing bodies.

But the IAAF's rules state, "The decision of the Arbitration Panel shall be final and binding on all parties...and no right of appeal will lie from the Arbitration Panel's decision."

Baumann therefore faces an uphill struggle to win the right to compete in Sydney, although he could try to take the case to the German civil courts.Lehner said, "We are fighting on. Dieter Baumann will not give up until the moment the qualifying heats start."

Reineri admitted that it was possible that the German federation could take the case to the civil courts.

Leading athletes have taken doping cases to the civil courts in the past including American 400 metres runner Butch Reynolds and Germany's former double world sprint champion Katrin Krabbe.



(c) Reuters Limited.