DOPING SCANDAL COMING: COATES

AUSTRALIA's Olympic sports must brace themselves for more doping scandals
in the coming weeks, Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates
said yesterday.

Coates confirmed that the AOC had received three new notifications of
doping offences involving two different sports and that he expected to be
advised of a fourth case in another sport "any day".

"There are four out there," Coates said, but would not confirm names or
sports until the athletes concerned had received hearings.

The case of Olympic silver medallist Scott Miller, who returned a positive
drug test for marijuana in September, is understood to be included in that
list.

There is also a lowkey track and field case involving a female club athlete.

The Olympic sports returned a total of eight positive drug tests (two for
steroids) in the 199697 financial year, but six cases, including the two
bobsledders, have come to light in the last month.

The AOC adopted a new antidoping policy last week, after discovering that
none of the eight positive tests last year were reported to the AOC by
their sports.

The new policy, to be implemented next month, requires the member sports to
report doping offences to the AOC and to refer cases to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport for rulings. The AOC will no longer be obliged to
keep names confidential until after the case is heard.

Miller's lawyer, highprofile celebrity defender Chris Murphy, has
indicated that the swimmer will defend himself "vigorously" against the
charge, which carries a penalty of up to a threemonth suspension.

Australian Swimming executive director Vena Murray said yesterday that
Miller had not yet applied for a hearing before the FINA doping commission
and had one more week to do so.

Murray said FINA had drugtested 17 Australian swimmers in September,
including Miller, and she expected the outofcompetition testing would
continue at that level until the world championships in Perth in January.

If Miller is found guilty, any suspension would finish on December 22 at
the latest, leaving him free to contest the Commonwealth Games trials next
year, his next goal.

A shoulder injury prevented him from contesting the world championships
trials in Brisbane in early October.

National head coach Don Talbot was dismayed to learn of the positive test,
but supportive of Miller's bid to regain his place in the national team.

Talbot, a strict disciplinarian, said Miller, who has developed a
reputation as a party boy, was just beginning to get his career back on
track after a series of setbacks in the last year.

"I am concerned for him, because he's such a great talent and I don't like
to see these things happening," he said.

"It's an unfortunate time for this to come out because the last month or
two he has been disciplining himself very well and I had a feeling he was
beginning to turn around."

Talbot said FINA had discussed removing marijuana from the banned list in
recent years, because it is a social drug and is not performanceenhancing.