Sotomayor, the world record holder in the high jump, tested positive for cocaine at the Pan American Games in Canada. Ottey, the Jamaican sprint star, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at meet in July.
Both athletes have denied taking drugs.
The International Amateur Athletic Federation said the athletes must be suspended by their national federations pending a hearing.
Sotomayor was stripped of his Pan Am Games gold medal after the positive test on July 30. Cuban officials have disputed the finding and claimed Sotomayor was the victim of a political conspiracy.
The IAAF received a 200-page document Wednesday from the Cuban federation defending Sotomayor. IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said the document was a summary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro's pronouncements on the case.
In a recent live television appearance in Cuba, Castro said he believed Sotomayor did not knowingly ingest cocaine and suggested the drug was introduced into something the athlete drank shortly before taking the test.
``It was all a colossal lie, an infamous and shameful lie, a criminal plundering of merits won through denial, tenacity, consecration and sacrifice,'' Castro said.
Reineri said the IAAF did not consider the Cuban response a ``valid scientific document'' and would continue to press for action.
``We asked the Cuban federation in mid-August to confirm the suspension of Sotomayor pending a hearing,'' he said in a telephone interview from IAAF headquarters in Monaco. ``We didn't receive an answer. We will send them another reminder today, telling them to follow the rules and suspend the athlete pending a hearing.''
If the Cubans continue to refuse, the IAAF can impose its own suspension.
Sotomayor has not competed since the Pan Am Games. He pulled out of last month's World Championships in Seville, Spain, saying he needed surgery on a herniated disc in his lower back.
Ottey, meanwhile, tested positive for nandrolone at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 5. The result was disclosed on Aug. 18, prompting the 39-year-old sprinter to withdraw from the Seville meet.
The testing of Ottey's backup ``B'' sample was postponed until after the championships. The IAAF confirmed Thursday that the sample was tested on Sept. 2 and also turned up positive.
``The IAAF has now asked the Jamaican federation to confirm the provisional suspension of Merlene Ottey pending the hearing,'' Reineri said. ``If the federation doesn't do so, then the IAAF can suspend her.''
In Kingston, the Jamaican federation said it would hold a hearing on Ottey's case by the end of November.
Ottey, winner of a career record 14 medals at the world championships, has vowed to clear her name.
Once national federations issue their rulings on drug cases, the IAAF still has the final say. If the IAAF does not accept the finding, it can refer the case to its arbitration panel.
Ottey is one of several athletes who have tested positive this year for nandrolone, a muscle-building steroid which has been around for decades. The spate of nandrolone cases has surprised experts, who have raised the possibility that food supplements spiked with the drug could be responsible.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press