Ghezielle sees doping ban extended

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — French middle distance runner Bouchra Ghezielle on Monday saw the French athletics federation (FFA) increase a doping ban by six months to four years after she appealed the original judgment on a positive doping test, her lawyer Stephane Mesones said.

Ghezielle, the 29-year-old bronze medal winner in the 1500 metres at the 2005 world championships, had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).

Mesones told AFP she would appeal the ban, decrying the fact that the doping test was carried out by foreigners on behalf of the IAAF on French soil, while the French agency for the fight against doping is the body which has since 2006 been ensured with carrying out such procedures in France.

The original length of Ghezielle's ban...