Nice (France), December 1: Australia's Davis Cup tennis squad found itself at the centre of a drug-testing row today - 48 hours before the start of the final against France.Australian captain John Newcombe refused to comply with a request from two men claiming to be from the French government drug-testing agency - who requested urine samples from two Australian players while they were practicing at the match venue this morning.The Australians had already agreed to International Tennis Federation drug tests, as mandated under Davis Cup rules, but disputed whether they were obliged to give samples to the French government officials.The drug-testers claimed that under a bilateral agreement between the Australian and French governments entitled them to demand samples from the Australian players.Tennis Australia spokesperson Lysette Shaw said steps were being made to confirm the existence of such an agreement.``It's something that has apparently been government generated, but neither our Davis Cup officials or the ITF are aware of any such agreement,'' Shaw said.``If it exists, we will, of course, abide by it, but John Newcombe was unwilling to let his players give tests to people we knew nothing about.''Two French players were selected at random and underwent testing at the request of the same officials this morning.
