Government begin drugs clampdown

The Government's Medical Control Agency has ordered all supplements containing nandrolone, the anabolic steroid at the centre of numerous drugs scandals, to be withdrawn in the New Year.

Former Olympic champion Linford Christie, Czech tennis star Petr Korda - winner of the 1998 Australian Open - and France's World Cup-winning footballer Christophe Dugarry are among those banned after testing positive for nandrolone.

In Britain alone, 24 competitors from 10 different sports tested positive for the steroid in 1999-2000, with most claiming they had only used legitimate supplements bought either over the counter at health food stores or by mail order.

While many such supplements do not contain banned substances, there is a rapidly growing market for products that include nandrolone precursors - chemicals that, when consumed, are converted by the body into nandrolone and which have the same medical effect as the steroid.

Sales of such products through one manufacturer are estimated to be worth more than £5 million a year.