ATHENS, Sept. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Two Azerbaijan powerlifters, one male and one female, have been disqualified from the 2004 Paralympic Games and banned for life, the International ParalympicCommittee (IPC) announced here on Wednesday.

    Sara Abbasova of women's 82.50kg category "has returned an adverse analytical finding of the anabolic agent Nandrolone which is included in the 2004 prohibited substances list," said Miriam Wilkens, IPC Communications Director, at a press briefing Wednesday here morning.

    "This was found in her urine sample taken during the pre-competition period.

    "After a hearing of the IPC Anti-Doping Sub-Committee, the IPC Management Committee has ratified the decision to disqualify the athlete from the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games," the IPC official said.

    And "a sanction of lifetime ineligibility was imposed as it wasnoted that Abbasova has previously been sanctioned for two years due to an adverse analytical finding of a prohibited substance during the 2001 IPC Powerlifting European Championships in Budapest,Hungary."

    The lifetime sanction has commenced on September 18, 2004, the day of the doping violation.

    Abbasova's male compatriot Goundouz Ismayilov of men's 90kg category was found to have traces of prohibited drug of anabolic agent Stanozolol in his urine sample taken during the pre-competition period and he has also been disqualified from the Athens games.

    Stanozolol was the drug used by the disgraced Canadian athlete Ben Johnson, who has been known for his stunning disqualification from the 1988 Olympic Summer Games in Seoul for taking the anabolic steroid.

    Similarly, Ismayilov was banned for life as he had previously been sanctioned for two years due to prohibited substances found during the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games and he was reinstated October 1, 2002. And, like Abbasova, the lifetime ban has commenced on September 18, 2004.

    "The IPC together with the International Federations and the National Paralympic Committees established the Anti-Doping Code inJanuary, 2004, to prevent, in the spirit of fair-play, doping in sport for athletes with a disability," said Wilkens.

    The two have seven days to fine an appeal against the IPC decision, she said.

    These positive cases were among the 335 doping tests conducted so far in Athens, she confirmed.

    Wilkens affirmed IPC's tough stance on the issue of doping in Paralympic sports, powerlifting in particular.

    "The positive tests show that the doping tests we are carrying out work. We have to target powerlifting a lot more with educational measures. I don't think we should put too much emphasis on these two cases. We will of course continue monitoring powerlifting and taking the appropriate measures after the Games, should we see a similar development as was the case in Sydney."

    Tony Pascual, Chairperson of the IPC Anti-Doping Sub-Committee,felt puzzled for the use of such old-fashioned drug. "It seems a sort of stupid for doing so," he said.

    The IPC anti-doping chief said he was happy about the lab in the Athens-based Hellenic Sports Research Institute. "The lab is well equipped and the staffs there are very competent," he added. Enditem