Get Premium Data for Cyber Monday: Up to 55% Off InvestingProCLAIM SALE

IOC wants swift and tough punishment for doping offenders

Published 03/27/2019, 03:31 PM
Updated 03/27/2019, 03:35 PM
© Reuters. Bach President of the IOC attends a news conference after an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne

By Karolos Grohmann

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday demanded swift and tough sanctions for doping offenders -- both athletes and their support staff -- involved in a German-Austrian doping ring.

At least 21 athletes from eight nations across five sports are suspected of blood-doping linked to a German doctor who was arrested as part of an Austria-Germany doping raid last month.

Five athletes, including two Austrians, were initially arrested on Feb. 27 at the Nordic skiing world championships in the Austrian resort of Seefeld.

The arrests were part of a joint operation with German police targeting a suspected international blood-doping ring believed to have been run out of Germany.

"We hope that all this will be clarified and everything will come on the table and there those responsible and the entourage of these athletes, the doctors and the personnel, that they will be punished soon and hard," Bach said.

"I hope that this is not dragging on, that their justice will really set an example. I hope there will be hard sanctions to have a deterrent effect on everybody," he added.

A doctor in the German city of Erfurt was also arrested along with five other suspected accomplices.

According to German prosecutors, the doping of the 21 athletes from five sports -- three winter and two summer -- occurred from 2011 onwards and blood transfusions took place in many countries across the world.

Since the arrests other Austrian athletes have been implicated in blood doping. Cyclist Georg Preidler told police this month that he had attempted doping.

Cross-country skier Johannes Duerr, whose interview with Germany's ARD television in which he admitted doping triggered the investigation and raids, was arrested on March 5.

The IOC has had to deal with its own major doping scandal, stemming from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and involving many Russian athletes, including medal winners.

© Reuters. Bach President of the IOC attends a news conference after an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne

Some of those case are ongoing, making their way through the sports and civil courts, years after the athletes in question were identified.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.