Former pole vault world champion Giuseppe Gibilisco faces a two-year ban for doping, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced on Friday.
CONI said that its anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri had asked the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL) to give Gibilisco the maximum punishment for "use or the attempted use of forbidden substances or methods".
Gibilisco won gold in the pole vault at the 2003 world championships and took bronze a year later at the Athens Olympics.
The accusations against the 28-year-old are the result of a wider probe into the activities of Italian sports doctor Carlo Santuccione.
Gibilisco attended a doping hearing on Thursday in a bid to persuade the prosecutor of his innocence.
At a previous hearing last week, the pole-vaulter used his right to remain silent.
If FIDAL's disciplinary tribunal upholds the prosecutor's request, Gibilisco will miss the Athletics world championships in Osaka in August and September and next year's Olympics in Beijing.
Prominent cyclists are also allegedly among Santuccione's list of patients.
This year's Giro D'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca has been summonded to a doping hearing next week at the offices of CONI, which is the governing body of all sport in Italy.
On Wednesday Torri requested the Italian Cycling Federation ban sprinter Alessandro Petacchi for one year for testing 'not negative' for salbutamol during the 2007 Giro.
Petacchi, who won five stages during the race, has a medical certificate that authorises him to use salbutamol for asthma.
But Torri decided to press charges because the tests showed excessively high levels of the drug in his body.
Last month, 2006 Giro winner Ivan Basso was given a two-year ban for his involvement in the Operacion Puerto doping scandal.
Furthermore, two Italian soccer players - Messina goalkeeper Nicholas Caglioni and Sampdoria striker Francesco Flachi - were banned for cocaine last season, while AC Milan striker Marco Borriello was handed a three-month ban for testing positive for cortisone.
