U.S. athletics agent suspended for 10 years

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. athletics agent Mark Block has been suspended for 10 years for his participation in the trading and trafficking of prohibited substances, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said on Friday.

The sanction by an arbitration panel resulted from evidence connected to the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) drug scandal, USADA said in a statement.

Block, also cited for inciting and assisting others in the use of substances, is the third athlete support personnel with ties to the BALCO drug conspiracy to be sanctioned, according to the anti-doping agency.

His ban took effect January 1, 2009 and will continue until 2019.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)