European athletics chief wants to keep urine samples for 10 years

European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen has demanded urine samples of athletes to be stored for at least 10 years to fight doping.

Hansen told the inaugural Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) Forum on Tuesday that "we will store the doping control sample for any European record for a minimum of 10 years to allow for retesting when technology improves," reports Xinhua news agency.

Hansen began the forum with a keynote address in which he described the corruption and doping scandals seen across a number of sports in recent years as "betrayals of sport's values and of the trust of millions of people, young and old".

He went on to highlight the significant progress that has been made both by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and European Athletics in integrity and good governance.

Hansen concluded: "I see SIGA as being from the sport movement and that it and European Athletics have common interests. Therefore I want to wish you all the best with your project and I hope to work with you in the future."

Representatives from over 100 organisations of the international sports community attended the forum, with high profile delegates from sport (international federations, clubs, leagues, national governing bodies and regional confederations), government, international and regional organisations, civil society and the commercial and professional services sectors.

--IANS

sam/vt