ROME (AFP) - Italy's Olympic Commitee (CONI) on Friday confirmed that former world champion pole vaulter Giuseppe Gibilisco should serve a two-year ban for doping.

The 28-year-old was initially found guilty by the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL) of working with Carlo Santuccione, an Italian doctor under investigation for supplying high-profile sportsmen with doping products.

Gibilisco, a bronze medallist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, was accused of having taken or having attempted to take performance-enhancing drugs but had never tested positive.

The Italian athlete appealed FIDAL's decision, and won, six weeks ago, leading CONI to immediately launch their own appeal.

The presiding judge on Friday confirmed the initial ban by the FIDAL, and said Gibilisco was guilty of his "links to Santuccione" - implicated in an affair dubbed "Oil for drugs" - and for the "use, or attempted use of banned substances or methods".

After Friday's ruling, Gibilisco said his conscience was clear and that he would appeal the CONI decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"I'm taking this decision with a smile on my face, just as I have in the past," he said.

"It's not over, we will be making an appeal to the CAS."

The Italian has always maintained his innocence and said Santuccione had only prescribed him substances which are legal.

In early September CONI, Italy's governing body for sport, had recommended a two-year ban for Gibilisco after their anti-doping prosecutor had examined the evidence against him.