Athletics: Romanians sack coach

The Romanian federation, the FRA, has sacked Eugen Raducanescu as its national team trainer because of repeated positive drug tests involving his athletes, the federation's president said yesterday.

"Raducanescu was sacked from the technical staff of Romania's national team for repeated proven doping charges against his athletes," the FRA president, Iolanda Balas, said.

"Four of his athletes, all of them still junior, have been or are still banned from national and international competition."

Altogether 11 leading Romanian athletes have been banned in the past four years, among them the long-distance runner Iulia Negura.

Balas added: "We want to clean up doping by all possible means."