March 21 - Dwain Chambers (pictured) will escape any disciplinary action from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for his controversial book, they announced here tonight.

 

The disgraced British sprinter had been threatened with a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute after comments in Race Against Me.

 

But the IAAF's ruling Council, which includes London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, who is a vice-president, found there is nothing in the book that justifies them punishing Chambers.

 

Pierre Weiss, the general secretary of the IAAF, said: "There is no reason for us to take any action against the book or himself.

 

"If other people feel they were attacked in is in their hands [to take action]."

 

Chambers is due to meet anti-doping officials at UK Sport on Monday where they will ask him to explain some of the allegations in the book, the most serious of which is that his former agent John Regis was aware that he was taking drugs and his management company Stellar Athletics had authorised the transfer of funds to pay for the cocktail of substances.

 

In his book, Chambers wrote he had been taking more than 300 different concoctions of banned substances, including the steroids Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), Erythropoietin (EPO) and human growth hormone (HGH), before he failed a drugs test in August 2003 and was banned for two years.

 

The Londoner still owes the IAAF $120,000 (£82,440) under an agreement he struck three years ago to repay the prize and appearance money he earned during the period he admitted he was taking banned drugs.

 

Chambers reportedly earned £50,000 for the serialisation of his book in the Daily Mail but he will not have to give any of that to the IAAF because the agreement covers only money earned in competitions.

 

Weiss said: "He has respected the terms of our agreement."

 

Chambers has to pay a percentage of all his track earnings to the world governing body but he is currently unable to compete in the top European meetings because the event directors refuse to invite him.

 

Weiss: "He has paid us [money] regularly when he has earned it.

 

"But a percentage of zero is zero.

 

"When he won the European Indoor Championships he earned nothing."

 

Tonight's decision by the IAAF nevertheless leaves the way clear for Chambers to concentrate on qualifying for the World Championships, to be held in the German capital in August.

 

When Chambers won the 60 metres at the European Indoor Championships in Turin earlier this month along the way he clocked a new continental record of 6.42sec in the semi-final, the third fastest in history.

 

That has boosted Chambers' belief that he can beat Jamaica's triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt in the 100m at the World Championships.

 

But Weiss said that the IAAF will not be cheering for Chambers.

 

He said: "In my opinion the winner in Berlin should not have been [a] dirty [athlete] in his life."

 

Duncan Mackay is the publisher and editor of insidethegames.com. He was the 2004 British Sports Journalist of the Year and was the athletics correspondent of The Guardian for 11 years. He was the writer that exposed Dwain Chambers as a drugs cheat.