According to the Associated Press, Lebanese alpine skier Georges Salameh has been banned for two years after testing positive for cocaine at the world championships by the International Ski Federation (FIS) which reported the action Friday.
According to the Associated Press, Lebanese alpine skier Georges Salameh has been banned for two years after testing positive for cocaine at the world championships by the International Ski Federation (FIS) which reported the action Friday.

The federation’s doping panel imposed the suspension after traces of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, were found in a sample the 33-year-old Salameh gave at Val d’Isere, France, in February.

“For a first-time violation, the athlete was sanctioned to a two-year period of ineligibility,” the federation said in a statement.

The ban runs through Feb. 17, 2011, and he has been disqualified from the championships.

Salameh, the national champion of Lebanon in slalom and giant slalom, competed in the qualification races in both disciplines at Val d’Isere but did not advance to race against the elite skiers.

He finished well back in the first leg of the GS and did not start the second run. He failed to finish the first leg of the slalom qualifier. Salameh finished 43rd in slalom at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006.

He can appeal the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.