US sports administrators want to work with the International Olympic Committee to stamp out doping in all levels of sport, the White House's chief drug fighter said today. Gen. Barry R McCaffrey was speaking ahead of an international conference that brings together representatives from 26 governments to discuss new initiatives in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs. "This is not just a problem of world class weightlifting. This is a problem of high school football and high school diving competitions and we think it is something we have to face up to," McCaffrey told reporters at a press conference at the Sydney Olympics aquatic center. The conference starts on Monday, just days after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally established the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which will initially be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, home of the IOC. McCaffrey has been a harsh critic of the WADA and repeated his concerns that it cannot be effective unless it is guaranteed independence from the IOC. He said Sunday there was a "fundamental conflict on interest" in the IOC running the WADA and organizing the Olympic games. He said the conference would tackle the question: "How do we move forward with a worldwide anti-doping agency that satisfies everyone?" McCaffrey is pushing a six-point US plan at the conference which he believes will help establish an effective anti-doping agency. The principles, outlined in a document sent by McCaffrey to IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch are: The WADA must be independent, accountable and effective. Athletes must be vulnerable to no-notice testing 365 days a year. The should be no statute of limitations for doping offenses. Samples should be preserved. Scientific research should be advanced. An ethic of clean competition should be promoted. McCaffrey said he hoped to meet Samaranch - who is not attending the conference - soon to discuss the principles, which he said have been met "with a pretty surprising degree of unanimity worldwide." The White House drug czar shrugged off a diplomatic row that erupted after Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates tried to have McCaffrey banned from holding the press conference at the Olympic venue. McCaffrey deflected Australian media questions about the row by saying he and Coates were pulling in the same direction on anti-doping issues. Delegates from around the world will discuss the role governments can play in the fight against doping, covering topics including international collaboration, developing effective testing regimes, combatting the illegal trafficking in performance-enhancing drugs and educating young sportspeople about the danger of doping.. They now know which Australian will open the Olympic Games in Sydney next September, but not which Australians will be there to see them. They now know which Australian will open the Olympic Games in Sydney next September, but not which Australians will be there to see them. One controversy surrounding the Millennium Games was defused last week when the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced that he was standing down in favour of the Governor General, Sir William Deane, for the starring role at the opening ceremony. They have little doubt in Australia that Howard, with the next election in his sights, wanted the job, but public outcry gave him little choice. Those annoyed by his role in the referendum vote that decided to stick with the monarchy argued that, having campaigned to keep the Queen, it would be unacceptable for him to supplant her representative - the Duke of Edinburgh did the honours at Melbourne in 1956 - at the opening on 15 September. But that still leaves the scandal of the ticketing arrangements largely unresolved.

Having sold the Games to the nation on the basis that the ordinary Australian would be first in the queue for seats at the events, the government and organisers have been accused of creaming off too many of the best seats for VIPs and corporate customers. "It was probably always going to be that way, like it has been at other Games," said one insider this week. "The trouble was that we gave the impression it was going to be different this time. Since that, we've been victims of our own success, because of the demand for tickets." The organisers have been forced to produce extra tickets for public sale like a magician pulling rabbits out of a hat. But if the whole affair has disillusioned Sydneysiders over the egalitarian credentials of the Games, it has done nothing to dampen their enthusiasm for watching them.

As well as the obvious athletics, swimming and basketball finals being sold out long ago, less mainstream disciplines like rowing and kayaking are also over-subscribed. The preparations for the Games have been a highly visible phenomenon, with the main stadiums rising from the wasteland that was the suburb of Homebush Test events have also kept the profile high. This weekend sees Australia play Brazil at football in Stadium Australia, while a couple of hundred yards away, Australia also play in the semi-finals of baseball's Inter Continental Cup. The only facilities that remain to be completed at Olympic Park are the tennis arena and the main press centre. Visiting media are promised the biggest and most convenient working area the Olympic Games have seen. Some might be rather less impressed to know that their accommodation is normally used for housing the livestock at the Royal Easter Show. The joke in town is that the cattle sheds will no longer need to be hosed down once a day - twice a day should be adequate But the Olympics cannot get away from controversy Take the relatively laid-back sport of beach volleyball. The blueprint for next September shows the construction of a 10,000-seater stadium, which virtually splits Bondi Beach in two. They are up in arms in the seaside suburb. You can get away with a lot, as the organisers have already proved with their ticketing fiasco, but youmust not deface an Australian icon..

By Dave Hadfield in Sydney By Dave Hadfield in Sydney 14 November 1999 Hundreds of thousands of dollars are to be refunded to Australian football fans who bought tickets for tonight's match against a Brazil Under-23 XI expecting to see Ronaldo in action. The match at Stadium Australia here had already suffered a blow to its credibility early in the week when Australia's own biggest draw card, Harry Kewell, failed to arrive from Leeds United. But Ronaldo's flight back to Europe, after Fifa ruled that his club, Internazionale, had already released him for enough international friendlies this year, has killed the viability of the event completely. Free tickets are being offered in blocks of four and those who had already paid for their seats - variously estimated as between 25,000 and 40,000 people - have been promised their money back. "We've used Ronaldo's image to promote the matches and it's only honourable that we react in this fashion," said Martin Jolly, the managing director of IMG, who are promoting the game and a second one in Melbourne on Wednesday. "It's disappointing for the public and the players but it won't make any difference to our game plan," the Australian coach Frank Farina said. "Brazil will still have a very good side and the Socceroos just have to concentrate on doing the job at hand." Ronaldo left Sydney on Friday, bitterly disappointed at being caught in the middle of a row between Internazionale and the Brazilian coach, Wanderly Luxemburgo Kewell did not even get that far. Leeds refused to let him fly to Australia, saying the trip and matches would aggravate an injury he is carrying.