Chambers to challenge 12-month 'quarantine'

Dwain Chambers is considering legal action to force his way back into the reckoning for the British team this season following last week's statement from the chief executive of UK Athletics, Niels de Vos, that the sprinter should not be allowed to return to the sport until he had completed a 12-month period of random out-of-competition testing.

The 29-year-old, who has already made one comeback to athletics after serving a two-year doping ban, is seeking to get back into the running following the collapse of his attempt to pursue a career in American football.

His last drug test was in November 2006, and International Association of Athletics Federation rules insist that athletes returning from retirement should serve a minimum of a year within its anti-doping testing programme before being allowed to compete again.

But Chambers maintains he never officially retired from athletics, and may seek an injunction which would oblige the domestic authority to allow him to compete in the world indoor trials in Sheffield on February 9-10.