Olympic Probe
May 31, 2007
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement that the disciplinary commission would also examine the possible role of experts in sports medicine at the University of Freiburg in Germany, who have been implicated in the ongoing cycling doping scandals.
"The IOC finds the revelations in recent days disappointing and concerning, and is therefore determined to look into the matter and any possible impact it might have had on the Olympic Games," it said.
"The fight against doping is a top priority for the IOC," it added, underlining its "zero tolerance policy" on doping.
A flurry of confessions
Jef d'Hont, the former Telekom team physician said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that 2000 Olympic road race gold medalist and former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich was injected with the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).
Former Telekom cyclist Christian Henn, a bronze medalist at the 1988 Olympics, has also admitted using the drug.
One of the doctors at Freiburg admitted supplying drugs to amateur cyclists between 1980 and 1990 last weekend and is understood to have worked for Olympic teams.
Denmark's Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour de France winner, admitted on Friday he had used EPO while at Telekom.
One of the top cyclists of the past 15 years, Erik Zabel of Germany, is another among former Telekom teammates who have also confessed to using banned substances.
The IOC, however, did not disclose any names for those who might be targeted by its investigation focusing on Olympic Games events.
"That's up to the Disciplinary Commission to look into," IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau told AFP. "It's too early to say."
Investigating violations
"The International Olympic Committee today announced that it has set up a Disciplinary Commission in order to inquire into possible anti-doping rules violations at previous Olympic Games, in connection with the recent revelations concerning the Telekom Cycling Team," the statement said.
"The Commission will also inquire into possible anti-doping rules violations with regard to the activities of physicians from the University of Freiburg (Germany)," it added.
The three-person commission will be formed by Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald, and former pole vaulting champion Sergei Bubka -- who are already involved in a hard-hitting doping probe into the Austrian Winter Olympic team members -- and Swedish IOC member Gunilla Lindberg.
They will report back to the IOC's executive board headed by President Jacques Rogge, which has the power to invoke sanctions including stripping athletes of their medals.