AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 25 May 2005 — Marion Jones will compete in the 100 meters on Sunday at the FBK Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, in what will be her first appearance in Europe this season, organizers said yesterday.

“There’s no reason to stop Marion Jones from participating in the FBK Games,” meet director Fedde Zwanenburg said.

He said meet officials had “granted her request to compete in the 100 meters race and had also reached a financial agreement with her.” Terms were not released.

“No punishment can or should be given (to Jones) before the rules in question have actually been shown to have been broken, said Zwanenburg, calling the American “a fantastic athlete who will also bring us needed publicity.”

The American sprinter has been shunned by many European meet organizers since being linked to the BALCO steroid scandal in the United States. The Euro Meetings Group, which represents many of Europe’s top meets including the FBK Games, has recommended not inviting Jones to any events.

Jones is also expected to run on June 1 in Milan, Italy.

“Marion is delighted that some European meet directors have the courage and the integrity to do the right thing,” her attorney, Rich Nichols, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Jones has never been charged with any doping violations. She denies using performance-enhancing drugs, and has never failed a drug test. But she has been tied to Victor Conte, the head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

Jones’ ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, and Conte have said they saw her inject herself with banned substances. Jones won five medals — three gold —at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but failed to win any in Athens last year.

Nichols asked the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee last week to help end a ban imposed by major European meets.

Organizers of the Essone meet in Paris recently withdrew an invitation to Jones.

Officials of the world-governing body the IAAF said Jones is eligible to compete, but meet organizers can decide whether to invite her.

Jones has struggled so far this season. In her first 100 race of the season on April 30, she clocked 11.28 seconds in Martinique. Her career best is 10.65.

Also running at the FBK Games are Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, who set a world record in the 10,000 meters in Hengelo last year, and Morocco’s Olympic 1,500 and 5,000 champion Hicham el Guerrouj, who will run in the 3,000.