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BRUSSELS, Sunday (AFP)

Moroccan athletics legend Hicham El Guerrouj slammed compatriot Brahim Boulami here Saturday saying his failed dope test had brought disgrace on the country.

The 27-year-old triple world champion had been the first athlete to raise questions about Boulami when he broke the 3000m steeplechase world record last year in Brussels and had his suspicions confirmed Wednesday when it was revealed he had tested positive for EPO.

"He (Boulami) has disgraced Morocco," he said.

"I'm very disappointed as he has tarnished the reputation of Moroccan athletics that we've had from Khalid Skah (1992 Olympic 10,000 metres champion) to myself," added the triple world recordholder, who omitted to mention 1984 Olympic 5000m champion Said Aouita as he is furious the latter claimed to have coached him.

Boulami, 30, has denied ever taking banned substances despite traces of EPO being found in a sample he gave the day before he bettered his own world record in the Zurich Golden League meeting on August 16.

He has requested his "B" sample be tested also.

EPO stimulates red blood cell production and is normally produced in the kidney and liver. Using an artifical form of EPO allows athletes to boost oxygen production allowing muscles to work harder and for longer. Boulami is the second high profile distance athlete to test positive for EPO this year following the positive test returned by Belgium's Moroccan-born two-time world cross country champion Mohammed Mourhit.

However Mourhit is contesting a three-year ban he was given this year for using EPO.

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