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Max ban for Contador wanted

Alberto Contador and athletes involved in Operation Galgo should receive maximum bans if they are found guilty of doping, Spanish Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco said on Thursday.

Contador is facing a two-year ban and being stripped of his third Tour de France title after failing a doping test during the cycling race. Fourteen people are implicated in Galgo, including world steeplechase champion Marta Dominguez.

"In the case of Contador and any other athletes - maximum sanction when we know" if they are guilty, Blanco told The Associated Press. "When it's proven an athlete has doped there is no debate - authorities need to act."

While all results are usually annulled and prize money can be paid back with a doping sanction, Blanco was also open to the suggestion that Spanish athletes pay back grants earned from the state to assist in their training.

"If they are shown to be guilty then there's no debate, they have to return everything," Blanco said from COE's Madrid headquarters. "Take away the grant and, even, try to make them pay back the money."

Despite vocally backing Contador after news of his failed test, Blanco dismissed any notion the Spanish cyclist would get preferential treatment after the cycling federation's president also came out in support. Contador tested positive for clenbuterol, which he has blamed on contaminated meat.

"Until it is proven that an athlete had doped, you can't criticize the athlete," Blanco said. "There is not a single doubt over the ability of our disciplinary committees in any Spanish federation. They respect the rules in that sense so people can rest assured."

Blanco was concerned over the fallout of Galgo, a Spanish Civil Guard investigation, which has divided Spanish athletics and accused Dominguez of being a supplier of performance-enhancing drugs. But he didn't expect recent scandals to affect the country's sports image even as it looks at bidding to host Summer and Winter Games.

Blanco confirmed he was backing a third push by Madrid to win the right to host the Summer Games, but that a decision to bid for either 2020 or 2024 wouldn't come until after local elections next year. Madrid lost out to London for 2012 and Rio de Janeiro for 2016. Bids based out of Barcelona and Zaragoza are looking at the 2022 Winter Games.

Blanco insisted Spain was at the forefront of the war on doping and that it must continue to be an example for the rest of the world.

"Nobody fights against doping more than Spain does," he said.

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