WINTER OLYMPICS Hardline policy has IOC very concerned

Anti-doping law is created a conflict as the Turin Games approach.
TURIN, Italy (AP) -- A downhill skier is led off in handcuffs after crossing the finish line for a gold medal. Paramilitary Carabinieri jump onto the ice and take away a bruising hockey defenseman or chase down a pair of ice dancers.
It may sound like a goofy film script, but the International Olympic Committee is worried about just such scenes at the Winter Olympics in Turin -- and that has led to a standoff with Italian authorities over the country's hardline anti-doping law.
The impasse over the law, which calls for criminal penalties and possible prison sentences ranging from three months to three years for athletes and others, has cast a cloud over final preparations for the Feb. 10-26 Turin Games.
The IOC backs suspensions, not jail time, for athletes who cheat. IOC officials said Thursday they will conduct 1,200 doping tests in Turin, a 45 percent increase over the number in Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
No moratorium yet
Yet Italian authorities have refused to agree to a moratorium during the Olympics. With the 100-day countdown to the Turin Games starting Wednesday, the doping debate has overshadowed other preparations.
"We can't accept the principle that Italian laws are not valid, because there are athletes from somewhere in the world who want to be free to take doping substances," Italian Health Minister Francesco Storace said during a visit to Turin last week.
Turin is home to one of Italy's top anti-doping prosecutors, Raffaele Guariniello, and Italy has been a pioneer in the fight against doping.
A court in Turin on Thursday began considering the appeal of the club physician of Italy's most high-profile soccer team, Juventus, who received a 22-month suspended sentence for administering banned substances to players.
While no prominent athlete has gone to jail in Italy, three bicyclists received six-month suspended sentences for doping during the Giro d'Italia. And Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, who plays in Italy's top soccer league, was banned for three months for a positive steroids test and faces trial in November on charges of sporting fraud.
The government supervisor of the Turin Games, Mario Pescante, who is also an IOC member, has lobbied for parliament to approve a moratorium during the Olympics -- but acknowledges opposition from Italy's foreign minister and other government officials is overwhelming.
"The majority of public opinion sees this [moratorium] as a sign of weakness against doping," Pescante said. "I did my duty as an IOC member to respect the Olympic charter, but my main duty as undersecretary of state is to respect" national laws.
IOC, WADA agree
IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency officials support a moratorium.
"It's always been our view that sports should settle its own problems," WADA president Dick Pound said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Doping in sports is a serious problem and will be dealt with seriously, but it is not criminal."
IOC president Jacques Rogge said Friday that Olympic and Italian officials can reach a compromise that will maintain "full respect" for the tough anti-doping law without putting athletes at risk of being arrested.
"We feel confident that a working solution will be found. There is no question about the IOC somehow taking a soft stance on doping," Rogge said at the close of a three-day IOC executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.