Olympics minister uncomfortable with IOC ruling

Olympics minister Hugh Robertson says he is "not comfortable" with athletes who have served drugs bans coming to London for the 2012 Games.

Any drugs cheats who would have missed the London 2012 Olympics under an IOC ban will now be eligible for the Games after a court declared the rule to be unlawful.

They will include LaShawn Merritt, the American sprinter who yesterday won a case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after challenging the IOC's rule 45 that states that anyone banned for a doping offence for six months or more should miss the next Olympics - even if their suspension has expired.

The British Olympic Association's (BOA) lifetime ban from doping offenders is even more draconian and now that could also be under threat.

But Robertson said: "The Government does and has always supported the BOA bylaw, as do 95% of athletes.

"Personally I am not comfortable with that [Merritt coming to London] but I am a bit of a hard-liner. I am not able to influence the laws that affect him but I can give support to the laws that affect our own athletes.

"All I can do is take the temperature with our own athletes and not a single man or woman say they want to get rid of it."

The CAS decision gives hope to cyclist David Millar and sprinter Dwain Chambers, who have both served bans for drugs in the past, being able to be part of Team GB next year.

BOA chairman Lord Moynihan has insisted the CAS judgment strengthened their lifetime ban because, unlike the IOC's rule, the bylaw has been accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency as being compliant with their code.

Moynihan said: "I will do everything in my power to make sure that the eligibility bylaw remains in place, with the full support of the athletes who consistently over 20 years have sought to ensure that we have a clean team competing cleanly at the Games."