Osaka, Japan - Lamine Diack stands for re-election as president at the Congress of the world governing athletics body IAAF on Wednesday and Thursday, with doping another main topic on the agenda. The absence of double sprint world champion Justin Gatlin of the US from the Osaka world championships for cheating is a visible sign that the drugs issue still plagues the high-profile sport.
Slovenian 800m runner Jolanda Ceplak also has to stay at home for doping, the affair around women's hammer throw world record holder Tatyana Lysenko coach Russian head coach Valery Kiluchenko his job, while Bulgarians Venelina Veneva and Vanya Stambolova are also suspended pending a decision in their case.
In order to deter cheaters at the August 25-September 2 championships, the IAAF will carry out more than 1,000 doping tests, eclipsing the previous mark of 885 tests from the 2005 edition in Helsinki.
"We will not tell the athletes what tests we will conduct, nor when," said Diack, saying the programme shows "our ongoing and aggressive commitment to the war on doping."
"We know that the overwhelming majority of our athletes compete fairly, so it is for their sake that we must do all we can to chase down and sanction those who attempt to cheat and lie through the use of doping practices.
Diack also said that samples will be stored for future examinations is deemed necessary.
The IAAF has already conducted more than 1,000 of its 3,000 tests planned for 2007, with according to Diack some 2.8 million dollars spent on anti-doping measures this year.
But cheats are not only to be deterred by a growing number of tests, punishment is also due to become harsher.
The IAAF is determined to push for a four-year ban for "serious doping offences", instead of two years, at the World Anti-Doping Conference in November in Madrid.
This issue will be discussed at the Congress, with IAAF vice- president Helmut Digel of Germany saying that "the IAAF wants to raise the pressure on (World Anti-Doping Agency) WADA."
The statement was echoed by IAAF Council member Sebastian Coe, the two-time Olympic 1,500m champion saying that "I will be pushing very hard for four-year bans and pressing Wada very hard on this."
The IAAF formerly had a four-ban in its rules, but halved the penalty in 1997 after losing several court cases against athletes.
Elections are the other key issue in the two-day congress ahead of the worlds, with the women's quota in the influential Council to be raised and former stars like Coe, Sergey Bubka and Alberto Juantorena running for vice-president in what appears to be the testing ground for future presidential ambitions.
But first the Senegalese Diack stands unopposed for a third and final term as IAAF boss since taking the job after the death of Italy's Primo Nebiolo in 1999.
Diack said in a personal manifesto published last week he aimed to "recapture the interest and imagination of young people, boost the television and commercial reach of the sport and build a competition structure for the future."
"I am determined to leave office in the secure knowledge that when we celebrate the centenary celebrations of the IAAF in 2012, we will do so confident that our sport remains vibrant, attractive, and relevant to the modern world," Diack said.
