German swimming coach given back accreditation

An Australian court has forced swimming's world governing body, FINA, to restore the accreditation of the German team coach, Winfried Leopold, which it withdrew last week.

The Western Australian Supreme Court ruled that FINA had not followed its own rules when it barred Mr Leopold from the world championships in Perth; he had admitted being involved in giving performance enhancing drugs to swimmers in the former Communist east Germany in the 1980's.

However, a FINA official said its anti-doping panel would meet in Perth this week and could still decide to bar the German coach from the championships which continue until January the eighteenth.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service