© Reuters 2002

Doping cases have reached an unacceptable level, according to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge, after two more competitors were disqualified from the Salt Lake Olympics.

"The level of doping today is just plainly unacceptable," Rogge told reporters after a final meeting of the IOC's ruling executive board on Monday.

"Our obligation is to give ourselves the necessary means to bring it back as low as possible.

"It is like a government in a country. The government's responsibility is to put out a ministry of justice, police force, law enforcement as much as possible and to get criminality to the lowest possible level.

"That's what we are doing," he said.

The IOC on Sunday disqualified Austrian Nordic skiers Marc Mayer and Achim Walcher and banned their coach and chiropractor from the next two Winter Games after blood transfusion equipment was found in their quarters during last February's event.

The Salt Lake Games witnessed five positive tests, a large number for Winter Games since there had only been a handful of cases in all the previous Winter Olympics between 1924 and 1998.

Competitors are banned from using transfusions to enhance performance - blood doping. Under IOC rules it is illegal to extract blood and then later re-inject it, even if no drugs were added.

Rogge said cutting down on doping cases was no easy job, but believed the current out-of-competition testing, in-competition testing and exemplary sanctions would have a deterrent effect.

NON-ATHLETE SANCTIONS
The IOC's new policy, he said, also entitles the body to impose sanctions against non-athletes involved in the doping case.

"The athletes are never alone. The athletes, in most cases, receive the drugs from someone else...and this person has to be sanctioned too," he said.

"With the Austrian case, it is of course always unfortunate to have to disqualify athletes. We never do this with pleasure, but we have to do our duty," said Rogge.

Mayer's father and coach Walter and the competitors' German chiropractor Volker Mueller were declared ineligible to participate in all Games up to and including the 2010 Olympics.

The Austrians said the transfusion equipment that was found in the Nordic skiing team's Olympic quarters - including bags containing blood - was used for treating colds and boosting the competitors' immune system and was not performance-enhancing.

The next Winter Games take place in 2006 in Turin. The venue of the 2010 Olympics will be decided in an IOC vote next year.