CLEVELAND -- The U.S. Olympic Committee gave USA Track & Field a month to solve its doping and athlete conduct issues or face the possibility of being decertified.

USATF president Bill Roe and executive director Craig Masback were summoned by the USOC's executive committee on Friday to discuss USATF's tarnished image. In recent months the American track and field governing body has had to deal with the ongoing doping case of Jerome Young, Kelli White's failed drug test at this year's world championships and Jon Drummond's tantrum at the same event.

	“	This was tough love from a parent to a high-performing kid. Sometimes you have to take the kid out to the woodshed to get [him] straightened out. ”
		— Bill Martin, USOC President

The USOC gave USATF officials until Nov. 17 to submit a plan detailing how the organization will deal with doping issues, athlete conduct problems and restoring the credibility of the sport. A three-person panel also was created to help USATF to help with those issues.

"This was tough love from a parent to a high-performing kid," USOC president Bill Martin said Friday after a five-hour meeting. "Sometimes you have to take the kid out to the woodshed to get that kid straightened out."

USOC officials didn't blame USATF for Thursday's announcement that several track athletes had tested positive for a previously undetectable steroid, but they were concerned with other issues.

Martin said the USOC would use all of its powers to make sure USATF cleans up its act and cooperates with international officials in the Young case. He said decertifying USATF as the sport's national governing body could be an option if the organization fails to comply.

"The United States Olympic Committee has to take the responsibility and leadership to solve this problem because we are not satisfied with the action that has been taken to date by USA Track & Field," Martin said.

Young's case has been particularly troublesome to USOC officials because of the notion that it portrays all U.S. athletes as cheaters.

Young tested positive for steroids in 1999, but was exonerated on appeal and went on to win a gold medal with the 1,600-meter relay team at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The USOC has said there was no explanation in its files to show why USATF would clear Young. The IOC and the International Association of Athletics Federations, track's world governing body, are both looking into the case.

USATF officials haven't provided any details -- they still call Young the "unidentified athlete" -- citing a January ruling by the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport that said USATF did not have to divulge details of 13 positive cases from 1996-2000.

"They ruled that this case was closed and ordered us not to provide information to the IAAF," USATF executive director Craig Masback said. "We have felt that we were bound by it and at this moment we still feel we're bound by it."

But USOC officials don't agree. The IOC and IAAF have asked for details in the case and the USOC's leaders want them to comply.

"Absolutely," Martin said when asked if USATF should provide details to the IOC.

The Young case is just one of several recent events that have given USATF a black eye.

White won gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters at the world championships in August, but she might lose those after testing positive for the stimulant modafinil. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is still reviewing the case.

Drummond didn't fail a drug test, although some thought he acted like it.

After being disqualified during the 100-meter quarterfinals, he held up the meet for nearly an hour by laying on the track, arguing with officials and gesturing to crowd.

This after he and the rest of the U.S. 400-meter gold medal relay team clowned and preened during the national anthem in Syndey.

"We know we have problems and we look forward to working with the USOC," Masback said.