The two French athletes who traded blows at the end of a 1,500-metre race in Monaco last week will learn their fate next Thursday, according to Bernard Amsalem, the president of the French Athletics Federation (FFA). Mehdi Baala, the world silver medallist in 2003 and the bronze medallist in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, clashed with Mahiedine Mekhissi Benabbad, the 3,000m steeplechase Olympic silver medallist, after the end of last Friday's Diamond League race. They were suspended pending a decision by the FFA disciplinary committee, ruling them out of their national championships. The disciplinary meeting was originally slated for this week but it has now been pushed this back until August 4. If the committee take action over the altercation there is a chance both men could be barred from competing at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea next month. Amsalem, however, played down the incident, and said that the status of French athletics had not been "tarnished" by it. "It doesn't always end in a brawl in the stadium, but sometimes it ends with awkward moments that are not in front of cameras," said Amsalem. "This type of incident is very rare. And that is why this incident in Monaco has not really tarnished the image of athletics." Both athletes have apologised for their parts in the fight.