71.   Government sports officials on the island were not commenting about the players.

72.   Government sports officials have been pushing for the sport to integrate more rapidly, and the issue was the subject of national debate earlier in the year.

73.   Hashim Mohd Ali, a Malaysian government sports official, said Thursday the Olympic Council of Malaysia would do the bidding.

74.   He also expressed the hope a common-anti doping policy would be accepted by all federations when the top sports officials meet in Lausanne next February.

75.   He said local sports officials would visit the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Switzerland next month to study bidding procedures and seek advice from Olympic board members.

76.   He said he was unfairly criticized by sports officials and commentators.

77.   However, numerous top sports officials in the country have already publicly supported the idea.

78.   However, the world record-shattering performance of two unknown female swimmers at the same games led U.S. sports officials to demand sweeping independent testing.

79.   However a senior French sports official admitted that the investigation targeting Bebear was a problem for the bid.

80.   However a senior French sports official said the investigation posed a problem.