Austria Fears Ioc Will Flex Its Muscles

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday February 25, 2006

Jacquelin Magnay in Turin

AUSTRIAN sports officials fear their country may be banned from future Olympics following the doping scandal that has embraced their cross-country and biathlon athletes.

The International Olympic Committee has announced its own investigation into the alleged doping fiasco, and the Austrian Olympic Committee has followed suit.

The international ski body, FIS, had disgraced coach Walter Mayer under surveillance for several weeks leading up to the police raids last Saturday night, and the Austrian authorities now suspect they will face the full wrath of the IOC and FIS.

"People are thinking about punishing us, even about banning us," Austrian Olympic Committee secretary-general Heinz Jungwirth told the Austrian news agency, APA. "There's a storm brewing at the IOC. Whether the doping tests are positive or negative doesn't matter.

"There was equipment found that was clearly not allowed, including equipment for blood transfusions. It's possible that if Austria is seen to be unwilling to investigate doping cases then they'll punish the Austrian Olympic Committee."

In mid-January, international drug testers uncovered evidence of blood doping at the small hotel used by some Austrian athletes in Ramsau, the Austrian village where Mayer worked. They put him under constant surveillance and pounced as soon as he was in Italy assisting the Austrian Olympic team.

The Austrians have already foreshadowed severe sanctions against two biathletes, Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottman, who fled Italy for the safety of their homeland earlier this week. Also ostracised from the Austrian team is coach Emil Hoch, who also disappeared from Italy after the surprise doping raids.

This comes as the head of the Austrian ski federation, Peter Schroecksnadel, met Italian prosecutors in Turin on Thursday. He later told the Reuters news agency that the delay in releasing results on the 10 Austrians tested in Italy and the two out-of-competition tests on two unknown athletes at the same time in Austria means the results are negative.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said the co-ordinated raids by his body and the Italian police were organised just hours before they occurred.

Rogge said Mayer, banned from the Olympics for 10 years after the discovery of blood doping equipment left behind in the Austrian team accommodation at the Salt Lake City Olympics, had been under suspicion for some time.

"For me Mayer is to be considered the man who organises doping," he said. "The police have made steps to identify a drug dealer. And the IOC has clearly shown we will not tolerate these people."

Rogge has anticipated some of the Austrians may be sanctioned regardless of whether the urine and blood test results were positive or negative, emphasising that the IOC would investigate illegal methods. "To find somebody guilty of doping you don't necessarily need urine and blood samples," Rogge said. "It can also be based on circumstantial evidence."

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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