Drug abusers at Games to be punished: Official

JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council will take stern punitive measures against any athletes found guilty of using banned drugs during the 14th National Games regardless of their excuses, a council official said yesterday.

Arie Sudewo, the council's vice chairman, said sanctions would apply to both the guilty athletes and their coaches.

"Although they (the athletes) may have consumed the banned substances unintentionally, they will be penalized," Arie said. "The strict measures will also apply to potential winners at the Southeast Asian Games if they are found guilty."

Arie was commenting on Chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar's statement on Tuesday that the athletes may not have realized they had consumed banned drugs. The Games doping commission revealed Tuesday that about 10 athletes had tested positive for illegal substances.

Wismoyo would not name the suspected athletes, but said none of them had taken steroids. He said he would name the guilty athletes after studying reports from the doping commission.

During the games, 1,200 urine samples were tested in the new doping laboratory in Rawa Kerbau, East Jakarta.

The suspected athletes can appeal the test results, by requesting a second test in local or overseas laboratories authorized by the International Olympics Committee.

Arie considered that the number of athletes testing positive was normal, saying that many Indonesian athletes were poorly informed on banned drugs despite a ceaseless campaign on it.

"I'm not surprised by the results of the tests. Indonesian athletes do not have proper knowledge on doping," he said.

"If they feel sick, they readily take medicine without consulting their coaches."

Arie said the council had set up a special department whose job it was to spread information on banned drugs.

In the last Games three years ago, a female swimmer, three male cyclists and one female cyclist tested positive to steroids. The council stripped them of their medals and records, and banned them from competing for between six and 15 months. (yan)