The Shadow
VIENNA (AP) – Austria’s national anti-doping agency provisionally suspended 2002 Olympic cross-country ski champion Christian Hoffmann on Thursday for his alleged involvement in blood doping.
NADA said Hoffmann has been banned from all competitions with immediate effect until a hearing by the agency’s disciplinary committee has taken place.
NADA did not reveal a date for the hearing, but Hoffmann’s attorney Hans-Moritz Pott said it would take place on Jan. 29.
That would mean that Hoffmann, who won gold in the 30-kilometer race at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, won’t be able to qualify for the Olympics in Vancouver.
Hoffmann has never tested positive, but prosecutors in Austria have been investigating possible blood doping by him and other athletes since May.
Hoffmann, who has always denied any wrongdoing, says it’s “unfair” to him that he has already been suspended ahead of the committee’s hearing.
“I just didn’t get the chance to defend myself and to prove my innocence,” Hoffmann told the Austria Press Agency. “So, the winter is over. They are dragging it out that long so I don’t have a chance to qualify for the Olympics.”
NADA released a statement on its decision but the chairman of the disciplinary committee, Gernot Schaar, declined to comment.
NADA had officially opened proceedings against Hoffmann earlier this month.
Hoffmann allegedly colluded with cyclists Bernhard Kohl and Michael Rasmussen and Kohl’s former manager Stefan Matschiner, who was arrested in March and has admitted he helped Kohl with blood doping.
Matschiner was kept in custody for five weeks for allegedly playing a major role in a nationwide doping scandal.
Earlier this year, police found a centrifuge for blood enrichment at Matschiner’s house. Kohl accused Hoffmann of sharing in the purchase costs of around euro75,000 ($100,500) and allegedly lending the centrifuge to other athletes, a criminal offense under Austria’s anti-doping laws.
