Athens - A Greek public prosecutor filed misdemeanor charges against 25 people involved in a weightlifting scandal on Tuesday after a large number of national team athletes failed doping tests.
Public prosecutor Andreas Karaflos brought nine misdemeanor charges against 11 of the athletes, their coaches and doctors, making it unlikely for the national team to take part in the Beijing Olympics.
Eleven out of the 13 weightlifters had tested positive for taking banned substances during a test in March.
The athletes' coach, Christos Iakovou, 60, faces five charges including giving a banned substance to the athletes. If found guilty he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Iacovou was suspended after the doping allegations were first announced and later handed in his resignation, saying he was leaving the world of weightlifting.
The athletes' coach blamed the initial test results on a faulty batch of dietary supplements by Chinese drugmaker, Auspure Biotechnology.
Iacovou is one of Greece's most respected coaches, whose team has won five Olympic gold medals along with five silver and two bronze since the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
Under IWF anti-doping rules, entire teams can be suspended from international competitions for up to two years if three or more athletes fail doping tests within one year. (dpa)
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