Dick Pound, the president of the WADA, had warned on Thursday that the International Olympic Committee would throw the sport out of the Games in London if they did not agree to fall into line with the other sports and recognise the World Anti-Doping code, which includes a two-year suspension for a first-time serious drugs offence.

 

But during a series of meetings in London earlier this week Caborn held with Heinz Tannler, the legal director of FIFA, the world governing body agreed to respect the code, including for the first time introducing two year suspensions for top international players who test positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs.

 

 “I believe we have made a very significant progress in our common goal, the fight against doping,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter wrote in a letter to Caborn, which insidethegames has seen a copy of.

 

In an earlier letter to Blatter, a copy of which insidethegames has also seen, Caborn said that FIFA falling into line “would send a powerful message across the world that football is at the forefront of the campaign to fight doping in sport”.

 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in Switzerland last month that FIFA had not fully complied with the World Anti-Doping code, but there were no legal grounds to prevent FIFA from doing so. Pound had warned they did not have to comply with the code but would face serious sanctions from the IOC and governments around the world.

 

It was Britain that asked for clarity. They wanted to know if they still had to conduct anti-doping tests on behalf of FIFA given that the soccer body did not fully endorse Wada's rules.  The arbitration court ruled however that FIFA did not support WADA’s rules in six important areas. Caborn has now addressed this issues.