Powell backs life bans for doping

Former world long-jump champion Mike Powell called Monday for drug cheats to face life bans, as he visited India on behalf of the world athletics body days after a doping scandal rocked the country. "I think if you are using drugs, you should be banned for life," the 47-year-old American was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency. Powell, who broke compatriot Bob Beamon's 23-year long-jump world record at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo, is currently in Mumbai as the brand ambassador of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Six Indians failed dope tests last week, including Mandeep Kaur and Sini Jose, and two more on Monday, including Ashwini Akkunji. The trio were part of the women's 4x400m relay team that won gold medals in 2010 at the Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. "It shows we are taking this seriously," said Powell. "As of now, if you try to use something now, you are taking a big, big risk. Athletics is at the forefront of any sport in the world as far as taking control to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs. It's a necessary evil." India have never won a track medal at the Olympics and just missed out in Los Angeles in 1984, when P.T. Usha narrowly failed to take a bronze in the women's 400m hurdles. Milkha Singh was also edged into fourth in a photo-finish in the men's 400m in the 1960 Rome Games. Doping has afflicted Indian sport over the last decade, with weightlifters the chief culprits.