OLYMPICS 2012:THE COURT of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cleared the way yesterday for dozens of past doping offenders to compete at next year's Olympics after rejecting an International Olympic Committee (IOC) eligibility rule as invalid.

Rule 45, introduced in 2008, banned athletes including Olympic 400 metres champion LaShawn Merritt from participating at the next Olympic Games if they have been suspended for doping for six months or longer, but the regulation was rejected by CAS as invalid and unenforceable.

The Court’s ruling means American Merritt, the highest-profile name affected by the decision, can now defend his title in London. CAS said the rule was not in compliance with the IOC’s own charter and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s code.

“I am thrilled to have this uncertainty removed for the 2012 season and would like to thank the US Olympic Committee for pursuing this case before CAS,” Merritt said in a statement.

Merritt was banned for 21 months after testing positive in 2009 and 2010 for a banned substance. His ban ended in July and he competed at the world athletics championships in South Korea in August, winning the silver medal behind Grenada’s Kirani James and gold in the 4x400m relay.

The IOC, which wanted the rule more commonly known as “Osaka Rule” to act as a further deterrent for athletes, said it would now seek tougher sentences in the new Wada code.

The Olympic body had argued the rule was not a sanction but an eligibility rule but critics said athletes were being punished twice.

“We were disappointed of course because the rule was meant to protect the clean athletes . . . so we’re a little surprised, disappointed,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said in Lausanne.

“We are going to move to change the Wada anti-doping code at its revision in 2013 to establish a rule that has the same effect as the one that has been invalidated now,” Rogge said.

The verdict, which strengthens Wada’s authority in doping matters, also allows dozens more athletes banned from the winter Games under the same rule to make a return at the Sochi 2014 winter Olympics if their doping suspensions have ended by then.

Cyclist David Millar, banned from all future Games under a similar British Olympic rule that could now be challenged, said the decision was a step in the right direction.

“A lifetime ban for a first offence does not encourage rehabilitation nor education, two things that are necessary for the future prevention of doping in sport,” Millar said.