Officials to Meet in Toronto : Track and field: Reinstatement of South Africa expected as IAAF to deal with unfinished business.

Track and field will deal with unfinished business this weekend--among it the expected reinstatement of South Africa--when the sport’s international governing body meets in Toronto for its last major business meeting before the Barcelona Olympics.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation is expected to readmit South Africa, which was a founding member of the organization but was expelled in 1976 for its policy of apartheid, or racial segregation. Readmittance would pave the way for South Africa to send a full team in its strongest sport to the Olympics.

Also on the agenda is the status of sprint star Katrin Krabbe and two other German athletes who were suspended for alleged manipulation of drug tests last winter. The IAAF is expected to refer it to arbitration.

The vote to reinstate South Africa is considered a foregone conclusion because unity has been largely accomplished and IAAF President Primo Nebiolo has promised that readmittance will happen.

Krabbe’s case is not so clear cut. Krabbe, the world champion at 100 and 200 meters, and two other sprinters--Grit Breuer and Silke Moeller--were found to have tampered with urine samples they submitted for a drug test. The German track and field federation banned the athletes for four years, but an appeals panel in April lifted the ban, allowing the athletes to compete in Germany.

The IAAF Council could uphold the decision of the German federation, allowing Krabbe and the others to compete internationally, or it could send the case to arbitration. If arbitration is the decision, the case will not be heard until June, which could make it difficult for the athletes to prepare for the Olympics.