BOA backs Atlanta tribunal plan

The British Olympic Association last night attempted to quell competitors' fears over controversial plans for an independent tribunal to rule conclusively on all disciplinary cases at the Atlanta Games.

Competitors and their representatives have reacted anxiously to the recently unveiled policy of the International Olympic Committee, which requires all those taking part in the Games to abide by the decision of an ad hoc Court of Arbitration for Sport and to waive their legal rights of appeal.

However, a statement issued by the BOA said: "The BOA would not support any course of action which denies [the athletes] their basic right to natural justice. The aim is for a dispute to be resolved as quickly as possible to the satisfaction of all parties.

"It is a condition of entry to the Games that disputes are referred for final determination to the CAS. But this in no way constitutes a denial of the right to a fair hearing, the right to have legal or other representation, or the right to put forward evidence relevant to a complainant's case."

The BOA says that complicated cases, possibly involving scientific evidence, could be referred away from the Games to formal CAS hearings outside the Olympic period for the necessary detailed study.

"The BOA believes competitors should feel more confident, not less, about an appeal before an independent panel," the statement said.

Craig Reedie, the BOA chairman who is also a member of the IOC, said: "If there is this degree of genuine concern, then clearly we will look at the issue. But at the moment I am quite relaxed with what the intention of the exercise is, and we think, on balance, no harm will be done."

Roger Black, the double European 400m champion, acknowledged that most athletes faced with the new proposal would feel bound to sign it. "You don't train for four years and you are a couple of months away from the Olympics and then you are told: 'If you don't sign this piece of paper you can't go'.

"Basically, athletes are going to have to sign it. I can't believe you would get a boycott of enough strength for it to be changed."

The 12 members of the ad hoc tribunal have yet to be named - apart from the British representative, Michael Beloff QC - but an announcement is due to be made within the fortnight.

Tony Morton Hooper, who represented Diane Modahl in her 18-month struggle to overturn a doping ban by proving flawed testing procedure, said yesterday that no provision would be provided for innocent athletes to do the same thing under the new proposals.

"The judgment of the arbitration court is based on an assumption that all evidence provided by IOC accredited testing laboratories is flawless. And that, as we have shown, is not always the case," he said.

n Yoshitaka Ito, Japan's 100m champion, was yesterday suspended for four years after testing positive for a banned steroid.