Sporting Digest: Drugs in sport

Helmut Digel, the president of the German Athletics Federation, has spoken out in support of tougher laws to enable German authorities in apprehending banned substance offenders. Digel's comments came days after the French government introduced a bill whereby those found guilty of prescribing, offering, administering or using banned substances will face up to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 francs (pounds 53,200).

The International Amateur Athletic Federation has confirmed that the Sri Lankan 200m world silver medallist, Susanthika Jayasinghe, can compete in next month's Asian Games in Bangkok pending an arbitration panel hearing on her positive drugs test last April. The panel will also consider the case of the former world 1500m and 3,000m champion Mary Slaney, who tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone at the 1997 US championships.