Stuttgart - Olympic 1,500 metres gold medallist Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain and Italian cycling road race silver medallist Davide Rebellin are among the athletes who tested positive for the latest generation of the blood booster CERA at a retest of samples from the Beijing Games, it was confirmed Wednesday. Ahmad Ben Hamad Al El Khalifa, deputy general secretary of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, told German Press Agency on Wednesday that the committee has been informed about Ramzi's positive test.

At the same time the Italian Olympic Committee CONI named Rebellin as a doping suspect.

Rome - Italian marathon runner Alberico Di Cecco has been banned f

Monte Carlo - China and the United States were among the most tested nations under the IAAF anti-doping programme in 2008, according to figures released by athletics' ruling body Thursday.

Russia, Belarus and Jamaica were also in the IAAF's top five countries for out-of competition testing last year but IAAF President Lamine Diack said attention had already shifted to nations participating in this summer's World Championships in Berlin.

Rome - A prosecutor for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) recommended Tuesday that cyclist Emanuele Sella face a one-year ban rather than the maximum two years after admitting to doping.

Sella tested positive for the blood booster EPO in an out-of- competition test in July and subsequently confessed to doping during this year's Giro d'Italia, where he finished sixth overall, at a CONI hearing in August.