World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Banka has revealed that hundreds of athletes currently serving drug bans will benefit from the postponement of the Olympics.
Banka says all suspensions are term based rather than determined by competitions, so many of those who would have missed this summer's event in Tokyo will be eligible to compete in the re-scheduled Games in 2021.
"A ban is about the length of time, it is not dedicated to concrete sports events and if they happen or not," he told The Times.
"There is no provision in the code for anti-doping organisations to cherry-pick periods of time in which the athlete would have more or fewer events to compete in.
"While an athlete cannot choose when he or she would like to be ineligible, an anti-doping organisation cannot either."
