ROME, July 18 - Former pole vault world champion Giuseppe Gibilisco was handed a two-year doping ban by the Italian Athletics Federation (FIDAL) on Wednesday.

In a statement on their website (www.fidal.it), FIDAL said the sentence reflected "the request put forward by the Anti-Doping Prosecutor of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI)".

Last week Gibilisco appeared in front of CONI to explain how his name had become involved in the "Oil for Drugs" investigation by Italian police into doping in sport.

The probe, which began in 2004, has focused on the relationship between sportsmen - including athletes and cyclists -- and doctor Carlo Santuccione, who is alleged to have supplied them with banned substances.

Gibilisco, who won gold at the world championships in Paris in 2005 and bronze at the Olympics in Athens, was accused by CONI of "the use or attempted use of a banned substance or of a prohibited practice".

He has said he would retire from athletics if he received a ban.