Wada demands cycling report

Australian riders cleared

World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound has called for the report, which cleared five Australian cyclists of doping allegations, to be made public.

Track riders Sean Eadie, Shane Kelly, Jobie Dajka, Graeme Brown and Brett Lancaster vehemently denied the claims.

But Pound wants to see the contents of retired judge Robert Anderson's report.

"Every time you do something that makes people wonder if process that applies everywhere else is being applied, there's a question mark," he said.

The Australian Sports Commission said Pound's comments were wrong and ill-informed.

Chief executive Mark Peters said Wada had been kept up to date with all the latest developments but the report could not be made public because Mark French, the rider at the centre of the scandal, was currently appealing against his ban.

"Mr Pound should be aware that Australia, like his home country Canada, has binding privacy legislation that prevents the release of information given in confidence without the approval of the individuals who gave that information," Peters said.

"Had he checked before making ill-informed media statements, he would have found that Wada has been kept informed of the allegations made against Australian cyclists since the issue arose late last year."

We will follow up with a letter to the minister if we don't get a satisfactory response Wada chief Dick Pound

However, Pound has indicated that he may write to Australian Sports Minister Rod Kemp in a bid to force the full release of the investigation.

He added that Cycling Australia and the ASC should have gone public the moment they learned of allegations made by cyclist French in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pound told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio: "What's going to happen if some of these people go to Athens as part of the your Olympic team?

"Australians are going to wonder whether or not they have sent athletes who are guilty of doping offences.

"The rest of the world is going to say 'how is it that Australia deals with all these things in secret?'."

Ex-junior world champion French accused Eadie, Kelly, Dajka, Brown and Lancaster of doping during his unsuccessful appeal against his own two-year ban from the sport.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said the riders could compete in Athens but their selection would be reconsidered if new information emerged.

Pound rejected Cycling Australia's claim it could not release the report for confidentiality reasons.

"We are getting the same answer that everybody else is getting, that 'no, we are not prepared to make it available'," said Pound.

"We have spoken with people in Australia and we will follow that up with a letter to the minister if we don't get a satisfactory response."