SYDNEY -- A scientist at Sydney's top
Olympic training center, the New South Wales Academy of Sport,
has been suspended after being charged with illegally importing
steroids ordered over the Internet.
Australian customs officials said the man had been summonsed
to appear in a Sydney court on May 9 after they intercepted a
package containing the body-building substances
dehyroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androstenedione.
The academy issued a statement on Wednesday to say the man
had been stood down from his job.
"We have been advised that the matter is under investigation
by the Commonwealth authorities and as a result we cannot make
any further comment until that investigation is complete," the
academy's director-general Brendan O'Reilly said.
"On receiving advice that this employee was under
investigation he immediately ceased work pending the outcome of
the investigation."
A court official told Reuters that the man had been charged
with trying to import three bottles of DHEA and a bottle of
androstenedione from the United States.
Both drugs are illegal in Australia and included on the
International Olympic Committee's list of banned substances but
are freely available over the counter in the U.S.
The academy said in its statement that the man had ordered
the drugs over the Internet.
The case comes less than two weeks after one of Australia's
top female basketballers revealed she was being investigated
after customs intercepted a package addressed to her which also
contained DHEA.
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