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Four Nigerian weightlifters have tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, the Nigerian Weightlifting Federation (NWF) said today.
LAGOS, Oct 28 (Reuters) Four Nigerian weightlifters have tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, the Nigerian Weightlifting Federation (NWF) said today.
They said the four had been suspended for two years.
''The four were tested in September by IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) officials and results from their samples showed traces of testosterone,'' NWF spokesman Steve Olarinoye said.
''The IWF has written to us that each athlete will get a two-year ban with immediate effect and we have dropped them from our squad preparing for the Commonwealth Games in March in Melbourne.'' The four lifters are African women's champion Elizabeth Jeremiah, Williams Omoroghomwan, Lawal Rilwan and Tunde Olasore.
Olarinoye said under IWF regulations, if more than two lifters of a member association test positive for a banned substance, it must pay a fine of 250,000 dollar or be banned from attending its nternational competitions for two years.
''But we have made an appeal to the IWF that this was an out-of-competition random test,'' he said.
In 2002, the NWF was handed a two-year ban and its lifters did not compete at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester after five athletes tested positive for banned substances at an earlier international competition.
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Four Nigerian weightlifters banned after positive tests
LAGOS, Oct 28 (Reuters) Four Nigerian weightlifters have tested