Mayer drops lawsuits against Rogge, Pound

By Published On: February 8th, 2007Comments Off on Mayer drops lawsuits against Rogge, Pound

Former Austrian ski coach Walter Mayer dropped his defamation suits Thursday against the heads of the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency.

VIENNA, Austria — Former Austrian ski coach Walter Mayer dropped his defamation suits Thursday against the heads of the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency.
    Mayer had sued IOC President Jacques Rogge and WADA chairman Dick Pound in a Vienna regional court over comments suggesting he was involved in doping Austrian athletes at last year's Winter Olympics in Torino.
    ''I want to come to terms with the past and put it behind me,'' Mayer said in a statement Thursday announcing his decision to withdraw legal action. ''I want to build a new life for myself.''
    Mayer was banned from the Olympics following blood doping allegations at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, but still traveled to Torino last year. He fled Italy after police raided the living quarters of the Austrian biathlon and cross-country teams in search of banned substances and equipment. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital after ramming a blockade.
    ''I regret the fact that my presence in Turin, albeit as a private person, led to such great trouble and commotion,'' Mayer said in the statement issued through his lawyer. ''The statements made by [Rogge and Pound] came as a result of this 'commotion,' and as such should be taken with a pinch of salt.
    ''As far as I am concerned, the matter is closed,'' he said. ''In the future I will stay away from competitive sport, as far as cross-country skiing and biathlon are concerned.''
    Pound was quoted in the Austrian newspaper Die Presse in February as saying that a search of Mayer's house in the Austrian province of Styria in January divulged ''equipment and instruments suitable for blood doping,'' Mayer's lawyer, Herwig Hasslacher, said in August.
    Rogge had been quoted as calling Mayer ''the man who organizes doping.''
    The hearing in the suit against Pound was scheduled for Tuesday, while the one against Rogge had been set for March 9.
    ''I have no particular reaction, other than I will change my agenda because I was due and ready to go on the ninth of March to Vienna, so I will be able to do something else on the same day,'' Rogge said at a news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland, at the end of a two-day executive board meeting.
    Mayer's decision to drop legal action should come as a boost to Salzburg's bid for the 2014 Winter Games. Salzburg is competing against Sochi, Russia, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. The IOC will select the host city in July.
    ''Whilst some parties tried to establish a link between the Salzburg bid and the Mayer case, the fact is that there was never the slightest connection between Salzburg 2014 and the 'Walter Mayer Affair,''' Salzburg 2014 executive director Gernot Leitner said in a statement Thursday.
    On Friday, an IOC disciplinary commission is scheduled to begin reviewing documents turned over by Italian investigators into alleged doping by Austrians at the Torino Games.
    In addition to the police raids, Olympic drug-testers conducted surprise checks on 10 Austrians. The tests came back negative, but the IOC can punish athletes, coaches and teams without positive drug tests, relying instead on police evidence or proof of possession of doping substances.

— The Associated Press

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