Chambers welcome at Golden League meeting in Berlin

By Karolos Grohmann

BERLIN (Reuters) - European indoor sprint champion Dwain Chambers, previously banned for two years for doping, will be welcomed at the Golden League meeting in Berlin on June 14.

"I am surprised Chambers is viewed as the root of all evil," meet director Gerhard Janetzky told the event's official website (www.istaf.de) on Tuesday. "I feel there should not be a professional ban for athletes.

"There have been plenty of athletes who were allowed to start after sitting out their ban so why should Chambers's punishment be worse?".

The Berlin event is breaking ranks with the group of top European one-day meetings (Euromeetings), who have urged their members not to invite athletes who have been caught doping.

Janetzky said Chambers, who recently revealed he had taken a cocktail of more than 300 drugs in one year, could race against Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt, former world record holder Asafa Powell or American Tyson Gay in Germany.

Banned for two years until 2006, the 30-year-old Briton tried his hand at American Football and Rugby League before returning to sprinting.

Chambers cruised to victory at the European indoor championships in Turin on Sunday, having earlier set a new European record of 6.42 seconds in the 60 metres semi-finals.

Janetzky ruled out a possible boycott of the Berlin meeting because of Chambers's presence.

"I don't think there will be a boycott," he said. "I hope to have one one athlete from the group of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in Berlin."