Former senior East German sports official Manfred Ewald, accused of playing a leading role in the communist state's systematic doping policy, remained silent as his trial opened yesterday.

Ewald, who headed the powerful East Germany Gymnastics and Sports Federation from 1961 to 1988, is alleged to have organised widespread doping in the 1970s and 1980s with the approval of the highest level of the GDR government.

Ewald, 73, and sports doctor Manfred Hoeppner, also appearing before a Berlin court, stand accused of contributing to inflicting bodily harm on a total of 142 sportswomen, most of them swimmers and athletes. Neither said a word yesterday.

Hoeppner, 66, was, from 1974, head of the Working Group on Supporting Means. "Supporting means" was the official terminology used by East German officials to designate doping.

Prosecutors had said the trial might last only one day and immediately come to a verdict, which prompted fears that many of the victims would not be able to testify in court as witnesses.

But, as the trial started, another day of hearings was immediately scheduled for Friday. It was not clear how long the trial would last.

"We want the proceedings to be short but we also want them to be fair to all those involved," presiding judge Dirk Dickhaus said.

The hearings started some 20 minutes late because of the crowd of journalists and television crews queueing up outside the building.

State prosecutor Klaus-Heinrich Debes read the indictment, which charges that the 142 women suffered lasting side-effects from the intake of anabolic steroids, such as hormonal disturbances and the development of male characteristics like excessive body hair or muscles.

A few women still suffer from menstrual and gynaecological problems, according to the indictment.

Ewald's lawyers said their client was not planning to make any statement for the time being. Hoeppner is expected to talk on Friday.

Several former East German officials have admitted that the communist state, seeing sport as a vehicle to promote communism, used systematic doping from the 1970s until German unification in 1990.

Coaches and doctors have already been brought to court but no official as senior as Ewald, who was also a former president of East Germany's National Olympic Committee, has yet been judged.

In previous trials, those accused were either given suspended jail terms, fined or had the charges against them dropped after agreeing to pay a fine.

Former East German Olympic swimming champion Rica Reinisch attended the opening hearings and said she doubted those accused would be handed tough sentences.

"There is little to be expected (from the trial)," she said. "This process will probably be just as lenient as the previous ones."