It will do little harm to Primo Nebiolo, the 76-year-old president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), that as he was re-elected by acclamation yesterday as head of world athletics, another one of the biggest names in the sport, Merlene Ottey, was forced to swear her innocence after testing positive for a banned substance.

If we are being asked to believe that Ottey's positive finding is coincidental to Nebiolo's reappointment then we should look at what has been said already this week.

On the day before the IAAF congress started the Italian autocrat said that the fight against drugs was "the most important issue facing sport". One of his foot soldiers, Dr Arne Ljungqvist, added some scientific flesh yesterday. "Athletes think they can take things and not get caught. They are wrong," he said. "They think they are steps ahead of us. They are not, we are closing the gap."

Ljungqvist went on to make a pre-emptive strike by casting serious doubts on athletes who claimed positive tests followed the ingestion of food supplements. "This is not an excuse," he said. "An athlete is responsible for what he takes. If you don't know what you are taking then don't take it."

Yesterday Ottey's head was presented on a platter to the media as Nebiolo accepted the standing ovation. Nice touch. Not surprisingly nobody had stood against the Italian for the presidential role.

Ottey's positive test for the steroid nandrolone follows just weeks after that of former Olympic 100 metre champion Linford Christie. The British sprinter is currently awaiting a hearing with UK Athletics, the governing body of the sport in Britain.

In addition, the reasons given by European 200 metre champion Dougie Walker for recently testing positive for nandrolone were accepted by UK Athletics, but not by the IAAF. Walker claimed that nandrolone got into his system in "an innocent and accidental manner".

The ludicrous explanation of US athlete Dennis Mitchell for having excessive testosterone in his system was also laughed out of court by the IAAF. The US Track and Field Association had divorced itself from science and accepted the sprinter's reasoning that excessive sex and beer was to blame.

In reality two of the biggest federations in athletics, those of the US and Britain, have appeared to roll over in the face of having to deal with their own high-profile athletes, while a third, Athletics Canada, faces possible ruin as the Ben Johnson case staggers on from the Seoul Olympics.

Johnson's lawyer, Morris Chrobotek, yesterday threatened a law suit against Athletics Canada if they refuse to revive his case with the IAAF.

If UK Athletics, terrified of another court case similar to that of Diane Modahl's which effectively bankrupted the British Athletics Federation, accept Christie's explanations, which at this stage appear to be similar to those of Walker, that too will probably be overturned by the increasingly-successful parent body.

In Seville, where the IAAF Congress is taking place prior to the start of this weekend's World Championships, there will be considerable back-slapping as the organisation girds it loins in the face of an ongoing and ferocious battle. Over the last two months the IAAF has been reasserting itself.

The cases of Ottey and Christie have yet to reach an endgame, and may end up, like the case of Ben Johnson, rattling through courts. But this week, at least, the millionaire IAAF figurehead will allow himself a grudging smile as the sport slides into the mud. Two big scalps, even of icons, are better than none.