ANKARA, Oct 2 (AFP) - The coach training Turkey's Sureyya Ayhan, the reigning European women's 1500 metres champion, said on Saturday that a report by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had cleared the athlete of doping allegations.
"There is nothing in the report about doping. It only talks about procedural mistakes" in sample collection, Yucel Kop told a press conference here.
Kop would not give any other details on the IAAF report, but said the issue was now in the hands of the Turkish Athletics Federation.
"There will be a trial. We will apply to the disciplinary board in 14 days and give our testimony," he added.
Ayhan, one of Turkey's few hopes for Olympic gold, withdrew from the Athens Games with a hamstring injury, but the Turkish media reported at the time that the real reason for her pullout was a doping scandal.
Newspapers had claimed that Ayhan had shied away from a doping test and had tried to submit someone else's sample.
Kop and Ayhan -- who are married -- have insistently denied the reports, but have acknowledged problems in the collection of urine samples prior to the Athens Games.
Kop announced in August that he had argued with representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) when they visited Ayhan's camp several times for tests.
He argued that a row erupted when a male WADA official insisted on accompanying Ayhan into the bathroom where she was to give a urine sample and he resisted the move on the grounds that it was against the rules.
Ayhan became a national hero after emerging from relative obscurity to win the European title in Munich in 2002. She won the silver medal in the world championships the following year.