Berlin - The ruling athletics body IAAF is telling the Jamaican team to keep five sprinters out of the world championships in its own interest because their fate over positive doping tests remains undecided.

IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said on Tuesday that a panel due to convene on Monday in Kingston to decide their fate never met for holiday reasons and therefore the IAAF could make no decision.

Weiss said the panel was unlikely to gather before the end of the world championships but that IAAF officials were meeting with Jamaica representatives over the issue.

Yohan Blake, Sheri-Ann Brooks, Allodin Fothergill, Lansford Spence and Marvin Anderson tested positive for a banned stimulant in June. Brooks was cleared soon over a technicality and the other four then as well.

However, the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) appealed the ruling and asked for another panel to decide their fate for good.

The five are not listed for individual races but for the pools of relays which start on Friday. Weiss said that to his knowledge the five were still in Jamaica. Relay team members don't have to be announced until one hour before a race.

"As of today the athletes are not suspended. We don't know if they will compete," Weiss told reporters.

"We are telling Jamaica to keep them away in their own interest ... If they compete and the panel names them guilty we would have to cancel the results and possible gold medal."

The IAAF is also protecting its own interest and in image of the championships through this move.

Last week, the IAAF asked Jamaica to reconsider withdrawing six runners who did not attend a mandatory training camp, saying it was for the good of the championships.

The Jamaicans kept them on the team and as a result Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser was able to get 100m gold on Monday and former world record holder Asafa Powell 100m bronze on Sunday.(dpa)