Austrian ski federation hosts anti-doping day

The Austrian ski federation hosted an anti-doping workshop on Thursday in an effort to ensure a scandal-free performance by its tam a te anouerOlmpcs

Abut80dotos,phsithraists and trainers were among those who attended the informational event near the western city of Innsbruck.

Experts present included International Cycling Union doctor Mario Zorzoli and Austrian national anti-doping agency director Andreas Schwab.

Ski federation president Peter Schroecksnadel, in comments quoted by the Austria Press Agency, said the purpose of the one-day session was to make sure "nothing happened" at February's Vancouver Olympics.

At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italian police raided the Austrian cross-country and biathlon team lodgings, seizing a large amount of doping products and equipment.

The raid followed a tip that Walter Mayer, a former team coach who had been banned from the games by the International Olympic Committee for a blood-doping scandal in 2002, was in the area.

An investigation into the matter led the IOC to impose lifetime bans on four athletes. One of the penalties was reduced to a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IOC also fined the Austrian Olympic Committee $1 million for failing to prevent the blood-doping violations.

Schroecksnadel also said Thursday that the federation has been discriminated against in recent years, and stressed it "never spent a euro on doping."