Hearings end in Austrian Olympic doping cases

The hearings into the Austrian doping scandal from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games concluded Thursday, and the International Olympic Committee said it was unable to give any details.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The hearings into the Austrian doping scandal from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games concluded Thursday, and the International Olympic Committee said it was unable to give any details.
    The Disciplinary Commission — headed by German lawyer Thomas Bach — met Wednesday and Thursday without the presence of any Austrian athletes or team officials, who were allowed to send written statements instead of appearing in person.
    IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said information would be available following the commission's report and recommendations to the executive board in Beijing in late April.
    IOC president Jacques Rogge said he wants the matter resolved by the IOC session in Guatemala City in July.
    Cross-country skier Martin Tauber and team official Reinhard Neuner were among 12 Austrians invited to the hearings.
    Biathletes Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann, and cross-country skiers Christian Hoffmann and Mikhail Botwinov were among others previously identified as being asked to attend.
    Italian police raided the lodgings of Austria's cross-country and biathlon teams during the Torino Games in February 2006, seizing alleged doping substances and equipment. The raid was triggered by the presence of former Austrian coach Walter Mayer, who was implicated in a blood-doping case at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and banned by the IOC from the Torino Games.
    The IOC received documents on the case from Italian criminal investigators last month and scheduled this week's hearings.
    In addition to the police raids, Olympic drug testers conducted surprise doping checks on 10 Austrians. The tests came back negative, but the IOC can impose sanctions without positive doping tests, relying on police evidence or proof of possession of doping substances.

    — The Associated Press