HAVANA, 16 (AP) - Javier Sotomayor has returned to Cuba after being suspended from international competition for testing positive for cocaine use.

Sotomayor, the Cuban world indoor and outdoor record-holder in the high jump, did not comment to reporters upon his arrival from Europe late Tuesday, except to say that he planned to continue training. He was accompanied by his trainer, Guillermo de la Torre, and the president of the Cuban Athletics Federation, Alberto Juantorena.

Sotomayor, 32, was to compete at a meet in Greece on Tuesday. But the International Amateur Athletic Federation on Saturday suspended Sotomayor and five other athletes suspected of drug use.

Their cases have been sent to arbitration.

``The issue is completely clear. The international federation decided that athletes who have such loose ends will not compete,'' said Vassilis Sevastis, president of Greece's track and field federation said earlier.

Sotomayor said earlier this week that the latest IAAF ruling caught him by surprise.

There has been no response from the Cuban government, which has supported Sotomayor, one of the most popular athletes in the nation's history. Cuba has said Sotomayor is innocent and has implied he was set up.

Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine before the Pan American Games in 1999 and could face a maximum two-year ban from competition.

AP-NY-02-16-00 1347EST

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press

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