Editor's Note: The Austrian Ski Federation's disciplinary commission found the four appealing athletes innocent of any involvement with doping in Turin. We will now see if the CAS agrees…
On November 1st and 2nd, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne will rule on the appeal of four Austrian cross-country skiers. At the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, police found suspicious materials such as syringes, blood bags, medicines and other equipment at the Austrian’s (Cross-Country and Biathlon) accommodations outside the Olympic Village.
As a result of the police raid, four members of the Austrian Cross-Country Ski Team (Martin Tauber, Juergen Pinter, Roland Diethart and Johannes Eder) were banned for life by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Even though no positive drug tests were confirmed, the IOC banned the athletes based on their possession of drug related materials and equipments. All four skiers maintained their innocence and have filed an appeal of their Olympic ban to the CAS.
As a result of the incidents in Turin, the Austrian Ski Federation (ÖSV) has been levied a $1 million fine. In order to pay this amount, the ÖSV came up with a simple three-year plan. Part of that plan is a reduction in the budgets of the Cross-Country and Biathlon divisions of the ÖSV. Each season, both divisions will have to get by with approximately 200,000 Euros less.