Swimming: Cavic banned for revealing political slogan on T-shirt

(PATRICK HERTZOG)

The Serbian gold medal-winner, Milorad Cavic, has been banned from further individual events at the European swimming championships for wearing a T-shirt with a political slogan. Serbia's swimming federation was fined €7,000 (£5,453) after Cavic breached competition rules during his 50m butterfly-victory ceremony earlier this week, the European swimming's governing body, LEN, said.

Cavic, based in the United States, wore the T-shirt bearing the words "Kosovo is Serbia" in his own language on Wednesday after breaking the European 50 butterfly record for the second time in two days to win Serbia's first European swimming title. Serbia are not due to swim the two remaining men's relays, so he is effectively out of the championships.

LEN said in a statement that its disciplinary panel met on Thursday to conduct a hearing with those involved and found that the inscription on the T-shirt "constitutes a clear political action in violation of the LEN guidelines for safety and security at LEN events".

Cavic, 23, who was born in Anaheim, California, was sixth in both the 50 and 100 butterfly at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne. The 100 butterfly is an Olympic event but the 50 butterfly is not.