TEHRAN - Maedeh Nazari and Fatemeh Hadavand have been handed out four-year doping bans by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

Both Iranian female riders tested positive at the 2018 Asian Track Championships in Malaysia.

Nazari and Hadavand had anabolic steroids in their system during the track competition, which resulted in the UCI handing out bans two years later.

Nazari, 21, and Hadavand 22, have both been banned for four years, with their suspension back-dated to the date the anti-doping rule violations were committed, which means they will be eligible to race again in 2022.

Hadavand won the junior national championships back in 2015, winning both the time trial and the road race in the same year.

She went on to finish third in the elite nationals the following year.

Nazari has also claimed medals in Iran’s national championships, taking second in the time trial and third in the road race in 2016.

Both riders have also claimed national titles on the track.

The riders were tested two days apart on February 2018 at the Asian Track Champs at the Velodrom Nasional in Nilai, Malaysia.