French National Olympic Committee president Henri Serandour says he will not bar athletes from the Athens Olympics if they are implicated in doping cases.
French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour has said anyone being investigated for doping should be excluded.
But Serandour said on Thursday he has to respect an athlete’s legal rights.
”It’s very complex. We are not above the law and in legal terms suspicion is not enough,” he said.
”I cannot condemn an athlete, wreck his career on a priori assumptions.”
However, he ruled out directly opposing his sports minister.
”If there is such a case we would need to discuss it even if I don’t wish to have a conflict.”
He will only bar athletes who have failed dope tests or admitting to doping.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has already said it will not suspend athletes unless there is evidence they failed drug tests.
IAAF secretary general Istvan Gyulai said only a positive dope test will be enough to justify suspending athletes.
The issue has become confused since four United States athletes were charged with doping offences by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) although none has failed a test. Usada is basing its case on verbal evidence in the federal investigation into San Francisco’s Balco laboratory.
World 100m record-holder Tim Montgomery, Olympic 400m silver medallist Alvin Harrison, former world indoor 200m champion Michelle Collins and former Olympic relay medallist Chrystie Gaines are under suspicion.
USA Track and Field said on Tuesday that all athletes facing doping charges are free to compete at the US Olympic trials, which begin on Friday in Sacramento, Califorinia.
National Olympic committees have until July 21 to name their Athens teams. — Sapa-AFP