Berlin  - The IAAF announced Saturday that it intends introducing stricter rules regarding false starts in sprint races but has so far decided against looking to impose sanctions on British sprinter Dwain Chambers over his autobiography.

Following its council meeting in Berlin, the IAAF's technical commission has recommended disqualifying sprinters by the first false start rather than only disqualifying the athlete responsible for the second one as is currently the case.

"Some athletes have played with the others. They won't be able to do this with the new rule," said technical commission chairman Jorge Salcedo, explaining the decision to recommend following the procedure used in swimming.

The IAAF Council will decide over the weekend whether the new rule should be put to the IAAF congress in August in Berlin, meaning that the procedure could then be in place from January 1, 2010.

The current rule was introduced in 2003. Previously, a sprinter would only be disqualified for two false starts but this led to lengthy delays in starting races.

It also emerged that the IAAF is unlikely to impose sanctions on Chambers over his doping history.

"It's unlikely that any steps will be taken this weekend," said Nick Davies ahead of the IAAF meeting.

IAAF legal experts met Friday to discuss whether Chambers could face a ban for bringing the sport into disrepute after confessing in his autobiography "Race Against Me" that he took a concoction of over 300 performance-enhancing drugs.

Chambers, who set a new European record over 60 metres of 6.42 seconds at the indoor European championships two weeks ago in Turin, served a two-year ban in 2003 after testing positive for the previously undetectable steroid THG.

Under IAAF regulations, an athlete can face a ban from between a week to life for bringing the sport into disrepute.

"He is free to run, his ban is at an end. Now our legal team is checking to see if we can ban him under this rule," said Davies.

The 30-year-old sprinter will be questioned by UK Athletics on Monday about his doping claims. Afterwards, the IAAF could meet and possibly ban him from competing at this summer's world championships in Berlin.

On returning from his ban, Chambers qualified for the 2008 Olympics but the British Olympic Association (BOA) banned him from competing at future Games over his failed test. (dpa)