Beijing Olympic Games

Updated: 2007-10-17 From: Xinhuanet

ROME, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Tour of Italy winner Danilo Di Luca has been banned for three months by Italy’s Olympic Committee (CONI) for his connection with a doping scandal, the Ansa news agency reported on Tuesday.

CONI’s anti-doping committee had called for a four-month ban against Di Luca who pulled out of last month’s world cycling championships in Stuttgart because of the affair.

The rider is accused of having worked with Italian doctor Carlo Santuccione, who is under investigation for allegedly supplying banned substances to Italian sportsmen.

Italian police started investigating Santuccione in 2003 after intercepting his telephone calls in a scandal known in Italy as “Oil for drug”.