Spain's Field Hockey Squad Could Face Olympic Disqualification After Positive Steroid Results

Madrid, Spain (AHN) - The Spanish women's field hockey team is facing the specter of being banned from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing this August after two of its players tested positive for dope, according to the national federation on Wednesday.

The national squad, which landed an Olympics berth after edging Azerbaijan with a 3-2 victory on April 20 at the Liensing Tournament in Baku, could be disqualified from Beijing Games after two of its players failed doping tests after the match. If the results were confirmed, Spain would be replaced by Azerbaijan in the Summer Games.

Under the rules of sports, the entire team will be disqualified if more than one member of a team test positive for any banned substances

On the other hand, the Spanish federation, which only learned of the tests results 10 days ago, says that the tests results were tampered and could have been caused by foul play. The federation has yet to release the name of the players concerned or the substances involved.

"My players haven't taken anything,'' technical secretary Jose Antonio Gil told The Associated Press. "Our players are totally innocent. We are looking into whether the players were intoxicated or if there was a manipulation of the samples.''

In a statement, the Switzerland-based International Hockey Federation said: "The athletes and the RFEH (Spanish federation) requested the "B'' samples to be analyzed, which will take place in the next couple of weeks.''