Former pole-vault world champion Giuseppe Gibilisco is facing a two-year ban for a doping violation, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said.

CONI, which acts as Italy's anti-doping authority, has asked the Italian Athletics Federation to impose the maximum ban on the 28-year-old, who won gold at the world championships in Paris in 2003.

Gibilisco, who also took bronze at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, is accused of "the use or attempted use of a banned substance or of a prohibited practice", CONI's website (www.coni.it) said.

The investigation into Gibilisco is part of a long-running Italian doping probe which has also involved cycling.

Danilo Di Luca, the 2007 Giro d'Italia winner, is scheduled to attend a doping hearing a week on Saturday as part of the probe. Di Luca has said he has done nothing wrong.

In a separate case, 2006 Giro winner Ivan Basso was given a two-year backdated ban for his involvement in a Spanish doping scandal while Italy's drug problem has also spread to soccer with several players testing for cocaine.

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