The Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) has recommended a 21-month suspension for 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso for his involvement in the Operación Puerto blood-doping scandal, the ANSA news agency reported on Friday.

Coni's anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri has asked the Italian cycling federation to hand out the suspension because of Basso's guilt in "using or attempting to use banned substances," according to the same source.

The UCI's ethics rules would keep Basso from signing a contract with ProTour teams for an additional 21 months, but the grand tours do invite UCI continental teams and Basso could theoretically ride in the 2009 Giro.

Just 10 days ago, Torri criticised the pressure being put on the cyclist, who appeared to have stopped talking to Coni after having admitted his role in the Operación Puerto scandal.

The 29-year-old Basso has admitted he had links to Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, allegedly at the centre of a blood-doping ring involving several sports. Basso claimed he had never taken banned substances, but attempted to do so for last year's Tour de France.

Papp gets two years
Joe Papp, a prosecution witness in the Floyd Landis case, has been slapped with a two-year suspension.

Last week Papp told a three-member arbitration panel that doping was widely used among cyclists and that synthetic testosterone can help athletes recover quicker from competition.

Papp's suspension is retroactive to July 31 of last year meaning he will have to serve just 14 months since the suspension was announced.

The 32-year-old Papp tested positive for synthetic testosterone following a race in May in Turkey.

A decision in the Landis case is expected within six to seven weeks.