Former Italian table tennis number one Valentino Piacentini has been banned for 20 months for testing positive for cocaine, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Monday. Piacentini, 29, failed a drugs test during last June's Italian championships, which he won, although the title was subsequently revoked.
CONI, which acts as the country's anti-doping body, said on its Web site (www.coni.it) that the start of the ban would be backdated to July 12, when Piacentini was suspended for the positive test. CONI is on a crusade to clean up Italian sport with athletes from golfers to volleyball players and cyclists recently being brought in for doping hearings.