London: Track and field athletes with a first doping offence should be banned for life from the Olympics and all other top-level meets, says former two-time Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe.

Coe, chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee, is Britain’s representative on the IAAF ruling council and will submit the proposal at a meeting in Osaka next August.

“People are leaving our sport in droves and we have to do something or the whole sport looks stupid,” Coe said at the European Championships.

“I am sure there is a level of pressure that can be brought to bear on athletes by excluding those with a doping conviction from all IAAF world-series events.”

Coe wants IAAF suspensions in line with those of the British Olympic Association, which has a lifetime Olympic ban for athletes with a doping conviction. He also wants athletes banned from the World Championships, Grand Prix finals and World Cup.

IAAF rules currently call for a two-year ban from all competition for a first offence and life ban for a second.

(AP)