BOA would back former banned stars
David Millar and Dwain Chambers will be given "100% support" by the British Olympic Association if they are part of Team GB for the London 2012 Games despite their previous doping violations.
The BOA have a court case on their lifetime ban policy for doping violations next month and if they lose then cycling star Millar and track sprinter Chambers, who have both served drugs bans in the past, would both almost certainly make the team.
BOA chief executive Andy Hunt told Press Association Sport: "If we did lose the case and therefore athletes with a previous serious doping violation are allowed to be eligible, should those athletes be nominated to us by the governing bodies and they be eligible we are likely to ratify those nominations and they will be treated just like any other athlete."
He added: "We will give them 100% support just like we would for any other athlete competing for Team GB. We are very, very clear about that."
The case, between the BOA and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in London on March 12, with a decision likely in April.
Millar, 35, captained the British team that helped Mark Cavendish win the men's world road race title in Copenhagen in September and is now a leading anti-doping campaigner. He served a two-year ban after admitting taking the blood-boosting product EPO.
Chambers, 33, would be almost certain to make the sprint team having beaten his season's best in the 60m at the weekend. He was also given a two-year ban in 2004 for taking the steroid THG.
WADA say the CAS decision against the IOC's similar rule on doping offenders missing the next Olympics even if their ban has expired means the BOA's lifetime ban does not comply with their code. The CAS panel that ruled on the IOC is exactly the same as the one hearing the BOA case, but Hunt said he had no issue with that.
Hunt added that the BOA are currently working on recommendations to change WADA's worldwide anti-doping code which would lead to tougher sanctions for drug cheats across the globe.
"We are working right this moment at recommendations we would make as to the future of the WADA code," said Hunt.
