Pound confident over French lab results on Landis

MONTREAL, Nov 16 (Reuters) World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chief Dick Pound says he has complete confidence in the French laboratory that handled the drug tests on Tour de France champion Floyd Landis despite lapses in security and procedure.

The French anti-doping laboratory (LNDD) in Chatenay-Malabry, on the outskirts of Paris, has come under intense scrutiny after its computer system was breached and French daily Le Monde reported that a clerical error was made in the handling of Landis's samples.

According to a report in Le Monde the lab made an administrative error, labelling Landis's B sample with the wrong number.

Pound downplayed the mistake, saying it did not compromise the results and adding that he was more concerned about hackers' ability to obtain confidential test results and information.

''For me, the big problem is the activities of hackers who entered into the system without permission, possibly against the law,'' Pound told reporters in a teleconference before WADA's executive committee meeting this weekend.

''The code contemplates minor errors that don't affect the validity of analysis. Ideally, you don't want there to be any kind of errors, administrative or otherwise that may get corrected in the process.

''We just have to wait and see. It's kind of an unusual situation whereby it's entirely possibly a lot of this information has been illegally obtained.'' Landis denies taking performance-enhancing drugs and has accused the French laboratory of making numerous mistakes, breaking anonymity rules and mislabelling his samples.

The American cyclist will make his case during a hearing by the American Arbitration Association early next year.

BUSY AGENDA Pound outlined a busy agenda for this weekend's meetings including a review of the anti-doping code which will come up for final approval at the third world anti-doping conference next November in Madrid.

The world anti-doping agency will also elect a new vice-president to replace outgoing Brian Mikkelsen of Denmark.

French sports minister Jean-Francois Lamour, who is widely seen as Pound's successor when the Canadian lawyer steps down at the end of 2007, is the only confirmed candidate.

Pound said WADA would continue to urge government to ratify the UNESCO convention against doping in sport.

The convention was unanimously adopted by 191 countries in October 2005 but only 24 countries have so far ratified the convention, six short of the 30 needed for the treaty to come into force.

Reuters PM DB0912