Mayer plans Rogge lawsuit

A lawyer representing Walter Mayer confirmed on Wednesday that his client would be filing charges at Vienna's regional criminal court over comments attributed to Rogge during the Turin Games.

Hasslacher told Reuters that his client's reputation and career had been "hugely damaged by completely groundless comments".

Hasslacher said that Rogge had been quoted as saying that Mayer was "the man who organises doping".

"We sent a registered letter to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne asking them to confirm the truth of this quote," Hasslacher said.

"So far we have received no reply and there seems to have been no public denial from Rogge even though this quote has now been widely published."

According to Hasslacher, Mayer is also planning to sue the World Anti-Doping Agency and its president Dick Pound over claims that blood transfusion equipment was found at Mayer's home.

Hasslacher insisted on Wednesday that the equipment in question was actually a legitimate machine used for measuring lactate levels.

Mayer was banned by the IOC from attending both the Turin Games and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver after he was implicated in a blood transfusion scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.

Having been re-appointed as head coach of Austria's cross-country team, however, Mayer decided to attend the Turin Games in what the Austrian Ski Federation later described as a "private capacity".

The coach's presence prompted the IOC to launch co-ordinated night-time raids with the Italian police on the hotels of the Austrian cross-country and biathlon teams.

Ten Austrian athletes were tested for possible signs of doping but were found to be clean.

Mayer crashed his car into a police road-block near the Italian-Austrian border having left Turin on the day of the raids.

He was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric clinic and was only discharged on Monday.

Hasslacher is also acting as Mayer's lawyer in a separate case being brought by Turin magistrates, although he said on Wednesday that his client had yet to receive any papers from the Italians.

Separate investigations are also under way by the IOC, the Austrian Olympic Committee and the Austrian Ski Federation which has since ended its association with Mayer.

There was no official comment from the IOC but sources told Reuters they were not concerned over the development.

"The facts speak for themselves," an IOC official said.