Bavarian Premier Wants German Anti-Doping Law

On Monday, Stoiber, who also leads the conservative Christian Social Union, asked his justice and education ministers to work out a plan for a nationwide doping regulation which he hopes could be put into effect by the time the current government's term ends in 2009.

Stoiber decided to pursue the legislation after a Spanish investigation saw German and Italian cycling favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso pulled from the Tour de France line-up shortly before the race began.

'Zero-tolerance policy'

"We need a zero-tolerance policy toward doping in Germany, like other great sporting nations have," Stoiber said in a statement, pointing to anti-doping laws already in place in France, Italy and Spain.

Stoiber, whose party is one of the partners in Germany's governing coalition, complained that using and possessing banned substances is not a criminal offense in Germany. This limits authorities' ability to act against drug cheats, he said.

Meanwhile, the manager of Germany's Gerolsteiner racing team, Hans-Michael Holczer, said he stood behind the increased calls for a German anti-doping law.

Law 'needs an apparatus'

Holczer said it was "worth considering" a law "that would make doping a punishable offense."

But he told a Bavarian television station on Monday night: "It wouldn't work without an apparatus, without a functioning system."

He recommended a simultaneous infrastructure build up to cope with the regulation, particularly in terms of financing.

"You can't make a law without a network," Holczer warned.

Ethics code

For his part, Holczer said he has his hopes pinned on a code of conduct that the heads of 20 professional cycling teams agreed to after the 93rd Tour de France. According to the code, cyclists guilty of doping will be banned from the professional cycling tour for up to four years. The code of conduct was, however, only a verbal agreement.