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Aussie Wants Life Ban

SYDNEY () -- Leading Australian swimming coach Scott Volkers called Wednesday for a life ban on drug cheats, while the head of Australia's anti-doping agency condemned world swimming's governing body for its failure to implement an effective testing program.


Australian Sports Drug Agency executive-director Steve Haynes said FINA secretary Gunnar Werner and his fellow directors should quit following comments they made in Brazil last week that China was too big to enable its athletes to be effectively monitored for drug abuse.


"In my opinion [a ban of] four years is far too short," Volkers said. "If a swimmer takes the chance of using an illegal drug they should be banned for life."


Volkers, who coaches world breaststroke champion Samantha Riley, said the recent decision by FINA to double the ban for drug cheats to four years still isn't tough enough.



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