Hungarian Olympic champions banned over doping misconduct
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-02 13:14

Hungarian athletes Laszlo Fazekas and Adrian Annus, who were stripped of their Olympic gold medals in Athens for breaching doping codes, were banned for two years by the Hungarian Athletics Federation (MASZ) on Friday.

Fazekas, who grabbed the discus title, was caught trying to swap a urine sample during a drugs test, while Annus refused to take a drugs test on returning to Hungary after it was suspected that he had used someone else's sample for the test immediately after winning the hammer event.

The pair have two weeks to appeal against their suspensions, MASZ president Gusztav Rabold told the MTI news agency.

"The federation made its decision based on a governmental decree from 2004 on anti-doping, as well as MASZ internal regulations," said Rabold.

Both athletes have already appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to try and regain their Olympic gold medals, with the first hearings set for December or January.

Annus had already announced his retirement immediately after he returned home while his disqualification meant Japan's Koji Murofushi was promoted to gold medal winner.

The discus gold went instead to Lithuania's Virgilijus Alekna, the Sydney Olympics champion.

Close

Today's Top News     Top Sports News
President Hu joins park revellers on National Day         Bush, Kerry poles apart on North Korea         Weapon sales to Taiwan opposed         After debate, Bush ridicules Kerry, France         Crude settles above $50 for first time         Companies protest against US sanctions	Rodman gets a look from NBA Nuggets       Eriksson backs Rio, warns Owen       Mediocre Liverpool face exacting test at Chelsea       Blanco gets another chance in Mexico squad       Paralympians return in golden glory       Massu reaches Palermo quarterfinals