CAS Reduces Life Ban On Austrian Ski Coach Hoch

CAS confirmed that Hoch had committed a serious anti-doping offence when he helped his athletes conceal blood doping activities.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reduced the lifetime ban handed out to former Austria cross-country coach Emil Hoch to a 15-year sanction for his part in a 2006 Winter Olympic doping scandal.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, CAS confirmed that Hoch had committed a serious anti-doping offence when he helped his athletes conceal blood doping activities but said that the lifetime ban would only have been proportionate if he had been "the principal or the leader of the doping conspiracy."

The court said that Austria's previous implication in a 2002 Olympic blood-doping scandal meant it could not rule out "that other people, including higher-ranking officials, pulled the strings in this doping conspiracy."

Hoch was banned along with several Austrian skiers from working at any future International Ski Federation (FIS) events following a night-time raid by Italian police on the team's residence.

The raid uncovered medical equipment which could be used for illegal blood doping.

Equipment was found in a bag belonging to Hoch although he claimed he was simply disposing of the contents under the orders of unnamed superiors.

CAS said that Hoch's ban would run until September 2022, adding that the 15-year ban was intended to cover roughly two-thirds of his remaining working life before retirement.