Twenty-eight athletes face disciplinary action over historic doping offences, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced yesterday.

The world governing body, under fire in the wake of allegations of widespread doping in the sport, said the retesting of anti-doping samples from the 2005 and 2007 World Championships in Helsinki and Osaka had turned up 32 adverse findings from 28 athletes.

The IAAF, which has come out fighting in the wake of the accusations in the Sunday Times and by German broadcaster ARD that it turned a blind eye to mass doping, said it could not name the athletes concerned “due to the legal process.”

It said: “A large majority of the 28 are retired, some are athletes who have already been sanctioned and only very few remain active in sport. The IAAF is provisionally suspending them and can confirm that none of the athletes concerned will be competing in Beijing.”