1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Doping Investigation

mz/tt/dpa/sidMarch 6, 2009

Two Hoffenheim players who showed up late for a doping test last month are no longer under investigation. But the German Soccer Federation has more questions for Hoffenheim.

https://p.dw.com/p/H71I
Christoph Janker (l) and Andreas Ibertsberger
Christoph Janker, left, and Andreas Ibertsberger can breathe a sigh of reliefImage: picture-alliance/ dpa

The two players, Andreas Ibertsberger and Christoph Janker, came under investigation by the German Soccer Federation (DFB) after failing to report promptly to doping control following a 1-1 draw against Borussia Moenchengladbach on Feb 7. The players later tested negative.

The investigation has been suspended due to lack of evidence against the players that would suggest "refusing or missing a doping control after being requested."

Investigation Not Closed

This does not mean Hoffenheim is out of the woods with the DFB. The team's doping official Peter Geigle faces an oral review before the DFB sports court for not informing the players of the doping control and not promptly leading them to where the test was conducted.

It is possible that during the oral review, new information could come to light that would resume the investigation against Ibertsberger and Janker.

In response to the circumstances surrounding this investigation, the DFB anti-doping commission has instituted a new policy that will require chaperones to accompany players selected for doping control from the pitch to the doping tests.

Rainer Koch, head of the DFB anti-doping commission, said "this case will have an educational effect on everyone involved."