A Belgian court has suspended the doping trial of former world champion Johan Museeuw and 10 others and sought guidance on whether athletes punished by their sports can also face criminal sanctions.

The court in the western town of Kortrijk had been due to deliver a verdict, but presiding judge Baudouin Devriendt adjourned proceedings until September 23, 2008, pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the point of law.

Museeuw, six fellow riders and four other people, including chief defendant, veterinarian Jose Landuyt, are accused of importing, possessing or using endurance-boosting drugs erythropoietin (EPO) and Aranesp.

Museeuw, considered the best one-day specialist of recent times, has already been banned for two years by the Belgian cycling federation for doping.

Prosecutors have demanded a two-year sentence, half of it suspended, for Landuyt and fines for Museeuw and the other cyclists.

The Constitutional Court is also set to look into the case of Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke who was acquitted of doping in March because he too had already been punished with a sporting suspension.

Museeuw, 42 and three-times winner of the famous Paris-Roubaix race, admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs towards the end of his career in a news conference in January.

The court in Kortrijk did however dismiss defence complaints over the leaking of charges against their clients to the media in the two years leading up to the trial.

The case involved four years of investigation, with telephone taps and a number of police raids.

Investigators counted over 200 calls and mobile text messages between Museeuw and Landuyt over a short period of time.

Reuters