IAAF chief calls for end to 'A' test leaks

STUTTGART, Germany, Sep 8 (Reuters) Athletics chiefs will look for ways to prevent news of positive doping tests being leaked before they are confirmed by a 'B' sample, IAAF president Lamine Diack said today.

Former Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones was cleared of doping allegations this week when her 'B' sample tested negative for the banned blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO).

The American's initial sample had tested positive for EPO at the US championships in Indianapolis in June.

The International Association of Amateur Athletics Federations does not announce positive 'A' samples but they are often reported in the media.

Diack, who confirmed that Jones's 'B' sample had been ''not positive'', said the issue would be discussed at a forthcoming anti-doping symposium in Lausanne.

''We will have to work to stop leaks,'' Diack said at a news conference ahead of the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart this weekend. ''It is not good for the sport that things come out before the official information.

''We must discuss what to do about it.'' The IAAF symposium will run from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 and experts in doping, including scientists and representatives from laboratories, will be asked for ideas on how to keep positive 'A' results under wraps unless and until they are confirmed by the 'B' samples.

Bernard Lagat, the former Kenyan runner who now represents the United States, is pursuing a claim for damages against the IAAF after an 'A' sample of his tested positive for EPO, only for it to be contradicted by the 'B' sample.

REUTERS AY KP1825