BERLIN (AFP) - Bundesliga players will undergo blood tests for the first time this season although no exact starting date has been agreed, said Reinhard Rauball, the president of the German football league.

"I can't provide a precise date, but they will start as soon as possible," said Rauball.

German league officials pledged in July to introduce blood tests which will be carried out along with existing urine tests to bring football into line with other major sports.

Wednesday's announcement comes just two days after Germany's interior ministry published a report which described a broad government-backed doping programme by West Germany in the 1970s.