WADA says it's time to impose 4-year doping bans

International anti-doping officials are increasingly convinced that two-year suspensions are not strong enough and four-year bans should be imposed to combat serious drug cheats.

International anti-doping officials are increasingly convinced that two-year suspensions are not strong enough and four-year bans should be imposed to combat serious drug cheats.

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The World Anti-Doping Agency code says athletes can be punished with bans of up to four years for a first offense in "aggravating" cases.

But federations and national doping bodies have stayed away from the longer punishment.

WADA Director General David Howman tells The Associated Press "when it comes to the crunch, obviously people are not willing to be as tough as they sound."

IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist says officials should choose a "suitable test case" to apply the four-year ban in EPO and steroid cases.