May 24,2007 – The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
today unanimously decided to suspend the National Olympic Committee
(NOC) of Austria from receiving or applying for any grants or subsidies,
whether direct or indirect, from the IOC in the amount of USD
1,000,000.
The EB also ordered the NOC of Austria to demonstrate, no later than 30
June 2008, the results of its investigation into this matter and the
internal organisational changes that have been implemented.
The EB based its decision upon the recommendations of the Disciplinary
Commission (DC) set up by the IOC in February 2006 and composed of
Thomas Bach (Chairman), Denis Oswald and Sergey Bubka. These
recommendations were made following the second round of hearings held by
the Commission on 1 and 2 May. The EB did not meet, but decided via a
postal vote.
Last month, the first series of recommendations made by the DC led the
EB to declare permanently ineligible for all future Olympic Games six
athletes from the Austrian biathlon and cross-country skiing teams who
competed at the Turin Games.
The DC will continue its inquiries, in conjunction with the Italian
authorities, in order to determine the full parameters of what has been
confirmed as collusion, as well as the level of involvement of other
persons.
This is not the first time that the IOC EB has imposed a financial
penalty on an NOC in conjunction with the violation of anti-doping
rules. During the Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, a financial sanction
was imposed on the NOC of Belarus for allowing an athlete to leave the
Olympic Village after she had been summoned to an unannounced
out-of-competition doping control.
The IOC will invest the USD 1,000,000 in actions related to the fight
against doping.
