By Xinhua
Vienna, The Austrian Olympic Committee (AOC) imposed lifetime bans on 14 officials due to the blood doping scandal at last year’s Turin Winter Olympic Games.
AOC president Leo Wallner said Tuesday after a special executive board session the 14 would be denied accreditation for all future Olympics.
Any Austrian found guilty of a doping offence in the future will also be banned for life from the Olympics, Wallner said.
Meanwhile, Austrian ski federation president Peter Schroecksnadel resigned as a vice president of the AOC. The decisions, prompted by pressure from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), came as Austria tries to salvage Salzburg’s bid to host the 2014 Winter Games.
Salzburg is competing against Sochi, Russia, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. The IOC will select the host city July 4 in Guatemala City.
The highest-ranking administrator banned was Markus Gandler, the sports director for the cross-country and biathlon teams. The sanction also covers Walter Mayer, the former Nordic coach who was banned by the IOC from two Olympics after a blood doping case at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Mayer’s presence at the 2006 Turin Games prompted a raid by Italian police on the Austrian athletes’ living quarters. Authorities seized large amounts of doping products and equipment, while Mayer fled the scene and crashed his car into a police roadblock across the Austrian border.