Ex-sports official lifts lid on East German doping regime

London, Sept.15 (ANI): A former sports official has acknowledged that there was widespread state-sponsored doping in Communist-dominant East Germany in the 1970s.

Thomas Koehler has revealed this fact in his book "Two Sides of the Medal," which is being published later this week.

"The sports leadership decided to use selected anabolic substances in a series of sports in the 1970s. If East Germany wanted to remain competitive in international sport, there was no choice but to allow the use of doping substances. If athletes were included from age 16, that happened with consideration of their biological maturity," the Washington Post quotes Koehler, as saying.

East Germany's doping programme has been widely known for years, but Koehler's admission is the first by a senior official from the former communist state. (ANI)