Spaniard Alemayehu Bezabeh, the 2009 European cross-country champion, has been banned for two years after admitting possessing a bag of his own blood intended for re-injection, Spanish sporting authorities said on Friday. Ethiopia-born Bezabeh, 25, was implicated in Spain's "Operation Greyhound" doping investigation in December.

He was exonerated of blood doping by the Spanish athletics federation but the government sports council decided to appeal to the nation's sporting disciplinary committee (CSO).

"A punishment for doping is never good news," state secretary for sport and CSD chief Albert Soler was quoted as saying by local media. "But it is clear that this demonstrates that it is one of the biggest problems in sport and we will fight it with all the means at our disposal."


Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/