BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP):

Dwain Chambers and any other athletes who have served suspensions for major doping offences will not be invited to compete at major European meets, a top organiser said yesterday.

"It is a message to the new generation: "Stay off doping. And if you don't, don't come looking here," Wilfried Meert, organiser of the Van Damme Golden League meet, told The Associated Press.

Meert said organisers will stick to the policy even in the face of potential legal challenges.

"We don't fear a court case," he said. "We have to adapt to reality."

The measure has been adopted by organisers of Europe's 51 major invitational meets, including all the Golden League and Grand Prix events and applies to athletes who have been banned for two years.

British sprinter Chambers and Chryste Gaines, two-time Olympic US relay medallist, have complained of being ostracised after serving two-year bans in the BALCO doping scandal.