The entire Romanian weightlifting team has been banned from the Sydney Olympics for doping offences. Francois Carrard, the International Olympic Committee director general, said the expulsion was ordered by the International Weightlifting Federation.

"The federation has a rule that if three test positive, the entire team is suspended," said Carrard. News of the ban followed the expulsion of two Romanian weightlifters on Friday after testing positive for banned substances while a third competitor, Razvan Ilie, tested positive in May.

The Romanian Olympic Committee announced it had sent home the weightlifters Traian Ciharean and Adrian Mateias after the pair were caught for doping infringements. Under IWF rules, a national federation is automatically banned for one year if three or more of its weightlifters fail doping tests during a calendar year.