The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unanimously decided to declare permanently ineligible six athletes from the Austrian biathlon and cross-country skiing teams who competed at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Those banned include all four members of the men's 4x10km cross-country relay - Roland Diethart, Johannes Eder, Juergen Pinter and Martin Tauber. The two biathletes are Wolfgang Perner, who finished fourth in the men's 10km sprint in Torino, and Wolfgang Rottmann.

This decision excludes them from taking part in any future Olympic Games in any accredited capacity – be that as an athlete, coach, official, etc.

The EB approved the recommendations of the Disciplinary Commission (DC) set up by the IOC in February 2006 and composed of Dr Thomas Bach (chairman), Denis Oswald and Sergey Bubka.

Based on the report provided by the Italian authorities earlier this year, the DC made a thorough inquiry into violations of the IOC Anti-Doping Rules during the Games and proposed a series of strong sanctions.

The severity of the sanctions is motivated by the fact that these cases go further than straightforward possession of prohibited substances and methods and are clear instances where a network, including athletes, colluded to manipulate blood and to engage into doping practices.

During the Torino Games the Austrian team’s accommodation was raided by Italian police and the IOC. Disgraced Austrian coach Walter Mayer, banned for blood-doping after the 2002 Games, fled the scene and Italy before being apprehended.

Today’s decisions show that the IOC will not tolerate any anti-doping violations and that concerted efforts between governments and the world of sport, acting in their respective roles to combat doping in sport, are paying off.

The IOC decision came on the day that the Austrian city of Salzburg staged a presentation in Beijing to promote its bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Salzburg, Sochi (Russia) and Pyeongchang (South Korea) are the candidate cities for the Games with the vote taken by the IOC on July 4 in Guatemala City.

IOC and AOC