Australian sports officials have called for China to be banned from the world swimming championships after the discovery of what are believed to be illegal drugs in the team's luggage.

Customs officials in Sydney said they came across twenty-six vials of fluid packed in ice in a flask concealed in a suitcase, during the team's stopover on a flight to Perth in Western Australia.

The drugs were said to contain a substitute for anabolic steroids, which are widely rumoured to have helped the Chinese swimmers in their recent record performances: seven members of the national team tested positive for steroids at the Asian Games in 1994.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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