OLYMPICS CHIEFS CALL FOR DRUGS SUMMIT AFTER TOUR SCANDALS

THE International Olympic Committee has called a special executive committee
meeting to discuss how to deal with illegal drugs in sport.

Prompted by the Tour de France drug scandals, the IOC president, Ivan
Antonio Samaranch, has convened the meeting on 20 August with a single item
on the agenda - the fight against doping in sport.

The IOC executive committee will also discuss the organisation of an
international conference against drugs in sport in Lausanne in January 1999.

The IOC initiatives come amid the widespread doping scandal that has
overshadowed the Tour de France, with numerous teams and riders under
investigation for use of banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Mr Samaranch caused an uproar when he was quoted in a Spanish newspaper last
Sunday as saying the IOC's list of banned drugs should be drastically cut
and suggesting only substances which pose a health risk should be
prohibited,

He has reassured sports administrators that IOC policy has not changed and
that all performance-enhancing drugs should be banned.

A sixth TVM team rider, Jeroen Blijlevens, pulled out of the Tour de France
during yesterday's stage. The team's director, Guido Van Calster, issued a
statement on behalf of the riders saying the TVM team had been exhausted by
the events of recent weeks and were 'not mentally or physically capable of
finishing the tour".

Only 14 of the 21 teams that started the blighted tour remained, leaving
only 87 riders - less than half the original field - at the start of the
stage.

The Festina team were ejected after the performance-enhancing drug EPO was
found in a car driven by the team's physiotherapist. Several members of the
Festina team subsequently admitted to using illegal drugs and six other
teams have withdrawn as tbe drama of the investigation into drug use has
continued.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"