New Delhi: Holding that the case of two women weightlifters testing positive for drugs in Olympics is only a "tip of the iceberg," an official inquiry committee has recommended "deterrent" punishment and sanctions for players as well as managers, doctors and technicians.

In the 35-page report, the committee, headed by K P Singh Deo, also made some far-reaching recommendations which included setting up an effective monitoring system by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) with responsibility and accountability, for national, continental and global events.

"The two positive cases for doping of our female weightlifters is an unfortunate incident. It seems it is the tip of the iceberg," said the inquiry report.

Lifters Pratima Kumari and Sanamacha Chanu were banned for life for testing positive for banned substances during the Athens Olympic in August. National coach Pal Singh Sandhu has also been banned for life while foreign expert Leonid Taranenko of Belarus has been derecognised by the IOA.

The Committee said during a visit to the sample collecting centre of Sports Authority of India (SAI) the members came across "a case of attempted manipulation of urine sample which was prevented by an alert, agile and vigilant technical person of the laboratory."