Dominguez celebrates her silver medal at the European Championships

World steeplechase champion Marta Dominguez has been suspended from her Spanish federation post after being implicated in a doping investigation.

Dominguez, one of four vice presidents at the federation, had her home raided by police on Thursday.

And she was temporarily taken into custody under suspicion of trafficking and distributing banned substances.

The 35-year-old won 3,000m steeplechase gold in Berlin in 2009 after taking silver in the 5,000m in 2003 and 2001.

President Jose Maria Odriozola's letter to Dominguez was published on the federation's website.

"I hope that these charges are swiftly resolved and we can learn the extent of your implication in this scheme as soon as possible," he said.

Dominguez finished second to Russia's Yuliya Zarudneva in July's European Championships in front of her home fans in Barcelona.

She has already said that she will not defend her world title in the 2011 event in the South Korean city of Daegu as she is currently pregnant with her first child.

Fourteen people have been questioned as part of the investigation, known as Operation Greyhound.

Sports doctors, pharmacists, trainers, coaches, representatives and sportspeople were among those detained according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior.

Some of those spoken to had been implicated in 2006's Operation Puerto, in which Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and his clients were investigated by police.

The probe prompted the withdrawal of 13 cyclists from the 2006 Tour de France.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version