SYDNEY: Australian athletes will be deliberately injected with a banned performance-enhancing drug to help develop a reliable doping test before the Sydney 2000 Olympics, an official said.

EPO occurs naturally in humans but some endurance athletes inject it to enhance their performance as it increases the ability of the bloodstream to carry oxygen. It is not detectable through urine analysis and there is currently no reliable test. But the AIS said it was confident it could now develop a screening process.

Pele on Ronaldo

TURIN: Soccer legend Pele claimed that Ronaldo's problems are more psychological than physical, and blamed them on Brazil's World Cup coach Mario Zagallo. Ronaldo, who has been suffering from chronic tendinitis since France 98, hasn't played for his Serie `A' club Inter Milan since mid-January.

But Pele claims the problem is in the Brazilian's head rather than his knees. And he believes that Zagallo is responsible, for fielding him inlast July's World Cup final just hours after suffering a fit.