Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield, the silver medallists at the 2004 Olympics in the 470 Class, may have to sail against an Israeli duo containing Udi Gal who has tested positive for the drug Finasteride but whose federation appear determined to clear him and ensure he avoids a two-year suspension.

 

Gal, who together with his partner Gidi Kliger, is Israel's best hope for a medal in Beijing having won a bronze medal in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 World Championships and would present a considerable challenge to Rogers and Glanfield.

 

Earlier this month Gal and Kliger claimed the bronze medal at the European Championships, an event in which the British pair finished sixth.

 

Gal claims he tested positive for the banned drug because it  is one of the ingredients in an anti-balding medication he has been taking.

 

But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have included it on their banned list because it can mask anabolic steroids.

 

A number of sportsmen have been banned after testing positive for it, including most notoriously Brazilian footballer Romario.

 

He was banned for three months last year after testing positive for the drug despite claiming the same defence as Gal.

 

A Brazilian court later quoshed Romario's suspension.

 

Yehuda Mayan, chairman of the Israel Yachting Association (IYA), is optimistic that the 29-year-old Gal will be cleared.

 

He told The Jerusalem Post : "I'm optimistic that everything will end well and that Gal will get to go to the Olympics and return home with a medal."

 

Drugs cases in sailing are extremely rare.

 

Indeed, it is claimed that it is the only sport in which East German competitors were not doped when they competed at the Olympics.

 

But Mayan, who will choose the panel to hear Gal's case, added: "It's not in my hands.

 

"Nevertheless, I'm hoping everything will be okay.

 

"I believe it will be okay.

 

"I understand the severity of the offence, but there are precedents in which athletes didn't receive a ban for the exact same offence.

 

"I imagine that Gal's lawyer has checked and found these cases in which the sportsman escaped with a rebuke."

 

If Gal is cleared, as seems likely, then International Sailing Federation and the WADA will almost certainly appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

 

Mayan said: "The disciplinary committee will have to determine if this is a case of negligence or not.

 

"The committee's decision will then be sent to the International Sailing Federation, which needs to accept it.

 

"We'll have to wait and see what they have to say.

 

"I think that in the last 100 years there was one case in which a sailor failed a drug test and even then he ended up getting away with it."