Adidas threaten to end T-Mobile contract in doping row

Will Adidas stick with T-Mobile? (Tim de Waele)

Adidas are threatening to end their partnership agreement with cycling team T-Mobile, after their rider Patrik Sinkewitz failed a drugs test, according to Friday's edition of Die Welt.

"We regard this matter very seriously and are considering terminating our partnership (with the T-Mobile team)," Jan Runau, communications director of Adidas, told the German daily newspaper. "The Adidas group has a very clear position against doping in sport."

The sports equipment manufacterers are believed to have a flexible contract with T-Mobile, worth less than one million euros.

Adidas terminated Jan Ullrich's contract when the 1997 Tour de France winner was sacked by T-Mobile a year ago, after he was linked to a high-profile doping scandal in Spain.

Adidas have been linked to the T-Mobile team since 1997 when it first partnered with Telekom, renamed T-Mobile in 2004.

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