Chinese rowers removed from Olympic team

China has withdrawn seven athletes, all rowers, from its Olympic Games squad after they tested postive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The identity of the drugs they used has not been made clear, but the disciplinary action follows the International Olympic Committee's recent approval of the first effective test for the banned drug, EPO which increases the oxygen in the bloodstream.

The BBC correspondent at the Games, which open in Sydney the week after next, says Olympic officials have not confirmed speculation that thirty or forty other Chinsese athletes have also been withdrawn.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service