Dubai: Moroccan track and field legend Saeed Aouita has called on his longtime friend and incoming IAAF President, Lord Sebastian Coe, to press for DNA testing of athletes in an attempt to clean up the sport.

Track and field has, of late, been mired in controversy with several prominent sportspersons expressing the view that many athletes have been cheating through the use of banned substances. A recent report even went to the extent of saying that more than 30 per cent of top-level athletes cheat in their pursuit of perfection.

Aouita, who had a total of six world records during his reign as one of the best middle and long distance runners for more than a decade starting in 1980, suggested that DNA testing of athletes may put an end to the doping menace in track and field. He won the 5,000m at the 1984 LA Games and the 1987 World Championships as well as the 3,000m at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

“It will be a lie if we say athletics is clean. There are so many cheats out there and they need to be caught and totally banned from sport. We have come to a time when we can no longer hide this side of our sport. There is something wrong and it is our collective responsibility to safeguard track and field during this turbulent period,” Aouita told Gulf News.

“Let’s admit we have a dirty side to our sport, and we should not be hiding this aspect. The doping menace has been in existence for the past so many years and we need to recognise this and act. Coe is now in charge and he very well knows what has been happening and what he should be doing to shore up our image as a clean sport,” he added.

Among other responsibilities, the 54-year-old now sits on a high-powered committee at the UAE National Olympic Committee (UAE NOC) entrusted with the task of identifying the UAE’s future Olympians through the annual UAE School Olympic Games. Aouita shuttles between his residence in Orlando, Florida and Dubai and currently busy in obtaining a doctorate in Sport Management and Leadership with a particular interest on the impact of sport business and coaching young athletes towards Olympic glory.

The Moroccan is irked that athletics governing body IAAF is not doing enough to clean up the image of track and field. “Personally, I am against a two-year or four-year ban. I do not see any reason why a cheat should be given a second chance? Not only should he be banned for life, but all his performances should be erased from the books. Allowing these cheats to come back and compete against the honest athletes is a dis-service to the sport. This is not fair. It is like an encouragement to the cheats,” Aouita said.

“Wada has been doing such a fantastic job in trying to catch up with the cheats. And if the IAAF can come up with some near fool-proof strategy like DNA testing of athletes then we will doing our sport a huge favour,” he added.