May 17, 2007 (Vienna, Austria) – Cross-country skiers Martin Tauber, Juergen Pinter, Johannes Eder and Roland Diethart, and biathletes Wolfgang Perner and Wolfgang Rottmann were banned last month by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) for blood-doping violations at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin – the athletes were found guilty of possessing doping substances and taking part in a conspiracy.

According to an AP report Tauber and Pinter’s lawyer Guenther Riess is appealing their sentences at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Riess claims that all tests on his clients were negative. The Austrian Ski Federation also confirmed that Diethart and Eder are planning to appeal as well.