Austrian authorities request help from Estonian court in ski doping trial
An Austrian court has requested assistance from Tartu County Court in serving a summons on Estonian cross-country skier Andreas Veerpalu, who was caught using blood doping at the World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria in 2019, Postimees reported on Friday.
Veerpalu is due to appear in the court of Innsbruck this fall.
A sitting in the proceedings against Veerpalu is scheduled for October 15. In order to prevent a situation similar to that which saw Veerpalu's father, Nordic skiing two times Olympic champion Veerpalu, fail to turn up for a sitting on August 30, the Austrian authorities have requested assistance from Estonia.
The court documents have now also been sent to Estonia.
"The Austrian court has sent the documents to the court of the place of residence - the Valga courthouse of the Tartu County Court. In its letter to the Estonian court, the Austrian court requested assistance in serving the summons," court spokespeople said.
The doping scandal that erupted in the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria, has yet to be resolved.
On February 27, 2019, the Austrian police raided several athletes on suspicion of blood doping, apprehending five, among them Estonian skiers Veerpalu and Karel Tammjarv.
A German sports doctor, Mark Schmidt, has been discovered to be standing at the center of the doping ring exposed in Seefeld.
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Editor: Helen Wright
