PARIS (Reuters):

WADA VICE-president Jean-Francois Lamour announced yesterday he had quit his job and pulled out of the race to become president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The Frenchman, a former sports minister in his home country, was a leading candidate to succeed Dick Pound as president until the late candidacy of Australian John Fahey.

"I don't want to be the president of a body that does not have the strength and the dynamism to fight against doping," Lamour told a news conference.

"WADA has been put under pressure by lobbies. The number of those who want to foist doping onto the sport, those who favour the setting up of cheating is increasing and it is not how I see things."

Lamour, a double-fencing Olympic champion, added, "What bothers me today is that there are two visions of the fight against doping.

"One is minimalist and states that the less doping cases you have, the better we are. And there is another one that preserves ethics and the athletes' health. WADA has to be the international cop against doping."

The election of the new WADA president will be held on November 17 in Madrid.