http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/vienna-lab-names-brains-behind-austrian-doping-network_106686 "The Vienna laboratory Humanplasma hit back on Tuesday at claims that it stood at the center of a massive doping network, naming instead several well-known coaches for the first time.
Banned Austrian biathlon and cross-country coach Walter Mayer, Stefan Matschiner, the former manager of disgraced cyclist Bernhard Kohl, and Martin Kessler, a rowing coach, were those at the heart of the doping network that used Humanplasma’s facilities between 2003 and 2006, the laboratory said in a statement.
“Between late 2003 and early 2006, these three persons – and only these – arranged for about 30 athletes in total to have blood samples taken,” it said.
Mayer, Matschiner and Kessler have long been linked to doping irregularities in Austria – Mayer was also banned from participating in future Olympics after a scandal at the 2006 Turin Games*.
Until now Humansplasma had never named key figures in the scandal.
The laboratory said it was first approached in 2003 by Mayer and Kessler, who insisted that blood doping was “completely legal and a widespread practice for a long time.”
Matschiner then followed in 2005.
The organization “set and coordinated appointments, escorted athletes to blood transfusions and picked up the concentrates which were later re-injected before races,” according to Humanplasma.
Following comments by Austrian Olympic Committee chief Karl Stoss, it denied that any German athlete had been involved in the scheme.
Austrian weekly Sportwoche reported last year that athletes from seven countries and six disciplines – including 10 cyclists and four rowers – had been involved in the doping scheme.
Humanplasma insists it ended its involvement in blood doping after the 2006 Turin Olympics, which ended in scandal and life bans for several Austrian biathlon and cross-country athletes*.
But the practices “continued long after 2006,”
* 6 of the austrians were proven guilty of doping. Wolfgang Perner, Wolfgang Rottman, Martin Tauber, Jürgen Pinter, Johannes Eder and Roland Diethart.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/263307,austrian-blood-centrifuge-discovered-huetthaler-banned--summary.html "Vienna - A blood centrifuge that was allegedly used to dope Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl has been possibly found in Budapest, Austrian police said Monday. Investigations were ongoing to confirm whether the machine found Saturday by Hungarian police in a private home was the one operated by Kohl's former manager Stefan Matschiner, according to a police spokesperson in Vienna.
According to media reports, Matschiner has admitted to having helped Kohl as well as banned Austrian triathlete Lisa Huetthaler by providing performance-enhancing blood doping services.
The former manager is currently being held in custody after Huetthaler and Kohl told police they received not only blood doping from him, but also a range of other banned substances.
Humanplasma, the alleged supplier of Kohl's centrifuge, is coming under increased scrutiny, as the daily Kurier on Monday cited a damaging report by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety.
"There is a strong suspicion that a maximum of 300 units of concentrates of red blood cells were produced on Humanplasma's premises between autumn 2003 and spring 2006," the report said."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kohl-testifies-against-former-manager "Former pro rider Bernhard Kohl testified against his manager Stefan Matschiner on the first day of his trial in front of the Vienna criminal court today. Matschiner was released from custody in May after being accused of having provided performance-enhancing substances and methods - blood doping - to his clients.
Earlier in the day Matschiner admitted having given eight of his athletes EPO, testosterone and growth hormone, but he denied being guilty of supplying blood transfusions - having simply taken the blood doping equipment to Slovenia and Hungary in 2008 - before this kind of practice became illegal in Austria.
Matschiner named three athletes to whom he aided in doping: Kohl, his former Gerolsteiner teammate Markus Zberg and triathlete Lisa Hütthaler. He did not reveal the identity of five remaining athletes.
Kohl took the stand later in the afternoon, and confirmed that Matschiner had aided himself and two other cyclists in blood doping on September 24, 2008 - several weeks after a new law banning the practice had been put in place in Austria.
The first plan, Kohl said, involved the use of EPO and growth hormones, but after Kohl heard that the Humanplasma company was providing autologous blood doping to athletes, he told his manager that he wanted to do that. He booked appointments for treatments, but after the Olympic scandal in 2006 when several Austrian athletes fell under suspicion of blood doping, the company destroyed all the blood bags, Kohl said.
Apart from Kohl, Rasmussen and (Christian) Hoffmann, the case also involves triathlete Lisa Hütthaler and Italian rider Pietro Caucchioli, who is currently sitting out a two-year doping suspension."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/matschiner-given-suspended-prison-sentence-for-role-in-blood-doping "Stefan Matschiner has been sentenced to fifteen months prison for violation of Austria's anti-doping laws. Fourteen months of the term are suspended, and his time already served covers the other month.
Judge Martina Spreitzer-Kropiunik found him guilty of attempted blood doping and the distribution of illegal doping products."
http://www.cphpost.dk/sport/120-sport/50238-new-doping-charge-against-the-chicken.html "Cyclist Michael Rasmussen has already served a two-year ban from professional competition over doping charges, but now he possibly faces another case from international cycling union UCI.
According to Politiken newspaper, Rasmussen – whose nickname is ‘the Chicken’ – was implicated in a doping case that resulted in the conviction of sports agent Stefan Matschiner a few days ago in Austria.
In his testimony, Matschiner stated that Rasmussen was a co-owner of a blood centrifuge, a machine often used by athletes to help them hide traces of illegal substances in their blood when tested. He added that the Chicken had blood taken for use with the centrifuge.
The court in Vienna confirmed that Rasmussen, cyclist Bernhard Kohl and cross-country skier Christian Hoffmann owned the centrifuge."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/markus-zberg-accused-of-doping "Markus Zberg, a former BMC and Gerolsteiner rider who retired in August this year, has been accused of buying EPO from Bernhard Kohl's manager, Stefan Matschiner. Kohl tested positive for third generation EPO-CERA last year and has since cooperated with Austrian anti-doping authorities, disclosing many details about his own doping practices.
In the final report from the Austrian Federal Criminal Office, Zberg's name is mentioned several times, according to Austrian newspapers. Kohl, as well as Matschiner and his assistant Gernot Winterauer, have reportedly confirmed a transaction of 24,000 units of Dynepo to Zberg in the spring of 2008.
The report also incriminates Michael Rasmussen, Thomas Dekker and Christian Pfannberger, who since 2007 have either been caught cheating or sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI), independent of the Austrian investigations.
Zberg's greatest success in his 13-year career was a silver medal in the 1999 World Championships. He was also Swiss national champion in 2000 and 2008."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dutch-athletes-involved-in-humanplasma-doping-scandal "At least three Dutch athletes are involved in the HumanPlasma doping case, according to Dutch media. The Austrian National Anti-Doping Agency announced yesterday that it was investigating some 30 athletes for doping violations in connection with blood-doping.
Herman Ram, of the Dutch National Anti-Doping Agency, confirmed to the Dutch site ad.nl that at least three former Dutch athletes are involved in the case. While he did not release names or which sport they belong to, he did say that “cyclists play an important role in the dossier.”
Former Rabobank riders Michael Boogerd, Thomas Dekker and Michael Rasmussen have all been previously questioned in the case."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boogerd-dekker-questioned-in-austrian-blood-doping-investigation "Michael Boogerd and Thomas Dekker were questioned in the Netherlands this week about their possible involvement with an Austrian doping ring.
The Dutchmen are under investigation by Austrian authorities in connection with Stefan Matschiner and the blood-doping scandal disclosed by suspended rider Bernhard Kohl."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/menchov-questioned-in-austrian-doping-case "Denis Menchov travelled to Vienna, Austria, last month to answer questions from investigators concerning his alleged involvement with the blood clinic "Human Plasma". The name of the Russian Rabobank rider has been mentioned in connection with the blood-doping circle in Austria."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pfannberger-named-in-humanplasma-investigation "Former pro cyclist Christian Pfannberger is the first athlete to be named in the Austrian National Anti-Doping Agency's (NADA) investigation of those allegedly involved with illegal blood-doping at HumanPlasma. Pfannberger has already received a life-long ban last November after twice testing positive for prohibited substances.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the NADA says that it has evidence that Pfannberger, "on the premises of the company Humanplasma GmbH, repeatedly had blood drawn for the purpose of doping in sport." In addition, it said, it is further alleged that he was involved in “providing forbidden substances to other athletes.”
Earlier this week the Austrian NADA had announced that it was investigating up to 20 athletes and trainers for their involvement with an illegal blood doping ring through HumanPlasma GmbH. The Dutch NADA has said that three former athletes from the Netherlands were under investigation and that, "cyclists play an important role in the dossier."
http://www.kolotv.com/sports/headlines/97618244.html "Three cyclists from the Austrian KTM team have been barred from the Tour of Austria for alleged doping.
The national anti-doping agency opened proceedings Thursday against Josef Kugler, Michael Knopf and Hannes Gruendlinger for alleged doping over the past five years.
The NADA also announced it's investigating cyclist Christian Ebner, mountain-biker Robert Kircher and triathlete Michael Weiss."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/7683071/Kelly-Holmes-nemesis-Stephanie-Graf-under-investigation-for-blood-doping.html"Austrian Stephanie Graf, who retired from athletics shortly before the 2004 Athens Olympics, is being investigated by Austria's anti-doping authority over accusations of blood-doping after it was revealed that she had blood taken at a controversial Vienna laboratory.
Graf has admitted providing blood at the Humanplasma lab in 2003 but denies it was ever re-injected, which would be an offence under international anti-doping rules."
http://www.kleinezeitung.at/sport/mehrsport/2164314/triathlet-weiss-laut-kohl-humanplasma-kunde.story "Im September 2005 kam ich mit Michael Weiss in Kontakt. Er hat mir von der Blutdoping-Möglichkeit bei Humanplasma erzählt", wird Kohl zitiert. Im November 2005 hätten sich Weiss, Pfannberger und seine Person an einem Sonntag bei Humanplasma eingefunden, um sich Blut abnehmen zu lassen. Danach will Kohl Humanplasma zwei weitere Male gemeinsam mit Weiss aufgesucht haben. Laut Kurier habe Kohl diese Aussagen auch gegenüber der Soko Doping getätigt. Humanplasma hat vor einigen Wochen eingeräumt, rund 30 Athleten in den Jahren 2003 bis 2006 Blut abgenommen zu haben."
http://www.nachrichten.at/sport/mehr_sport/art109,483234 "Walter Mayer: Um den Begründer des österreichischen Langlauf-Wunders ist es ruhig geworden. Wie Matschiner saß er im Vorjahr wegen des Verdachts der Weitergabe verbotener Substanzen bereits in U-Haft. Bis heute gibt es für ihn aber keinen Prozesstermin, obwohl der Abschlussbericht längst fertig ist. „Wir warten nach wie vor auf das Justizministerium“, sagt Thomas Vecsey von der Wiener Staatsanwaltschaft. „Ich nehme an, dass hier nach Abschluss der Causa Matschiner nun noch was kommen wird“, sagt Michael Mader von der Nationalen Anti-Doping-Agentur (NADA).
Andreas Zoubek: Der ehemalige Arzt des St. Anna Kinderspitals und Hobby-Triathlet könnte ebenfalls vor Gericht belangt werden. Er hatte Sportler wie die Triathletin Lisa Hütthaler mit EPO versorgt. Hütthaler gab am Montag beim Matschiner-Prozess zu Protokoll, dass Zoubek es auch war, der sie zum Laakirchner Sportmanager weitervermittelt hatte. Sollte es gegen Zoubek zu einem Prozess kommen, würde danach laut OÖN-Informationen auch die Ärztekammer auf den Plan treten mit einem Verfahren.
Martin Kessler: Der ehemalige Nationaltrainer der Ruderer kam selbst ins Rudern, als er vor dem Bundeskriminalamt bestritt, mit Blutdoping bei Humanplasma etwas zu tun zu haben. Da das Unternehmen von sich aus Kessler aber neben Mayer als Doping-Drahtzieher nannte, läuft ein Verfahren wegen Falschaussage."
~ 30 athletes visited Humanplasma
Accused organisers (
sanctioned for doping)
Walter Mayer - austrian ski/biathlon coach.
Stefan Matschiner - austrian agent who doped some of his clients.
Martin Kessler - austrian rowing coach.
Suspects (either named by investigators, confessed clients or the lab)
* 10 cyclists -
Kohl,
Rasmussen,
Dekker, Boegeerd, Menchov, Cauchiolli, Zberg,
Pfannberger, ??
* 4 rowers - ?
Lisa HütthalerMichael WeissStephanie Graf
Christian Hoffman
Wolfgang PernerWolfgang RottmanJürgen PinterMartin TauberJohannes EderRoland DiethartSo that's 18 accounted for barring the obvious possibility that someone was unfairly put under investigation. That leaves ~12 unknowns. Half of these should be rowers (most likely coached by implicated coach Martin Kessler) and cyclists. It has been confirmed that at least 3 dutch athletes were involved but only two have been named so far. Number 3 is most likely either a cyclist or a track athlete (Matschiner managed a successful dutch distance runner). It is also a very real possibility that some austrian dopers at the 2006 winter olympics managed to get away with it and that the number of athletes sanctioned after those infamous raids should have been greater than 6. After all, Christian Hoffman (who was more or less exposed as a doper in the recent investigations) was a member of that team but could not be linked to any wrongdoing at the time. The same goes for medalist Mikhail Botwinov who was suspected of doping at the 2002 Olympics in which Mayer was caught with transfusion equipment for the first time. Multiple other clients of Stefan Matschiner, that have not been named above, also failed drug tests, so you might find other humanplasma dopers in that bunch.
