VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ A lawyer for Austrian ski coach Walter
Mayer has said he may sue IOC president Jacques Rogge over a
doping-related comment, Austrian media reported Saturday.
Herwig Hasslacher said he would sue Rogge on Mayer's behalf if he
did not retract a comment he made publicly last week in which he
said Mayer ``organized'' doping, the Austrian broadcaster ORF
reported on its website.
Hasslacher was not immediately available for comment Saturday.
Hasslacher said Rogge's comments lacked substance and proof and
publicly degraded Mayer.
On Friday, Austrian ski team sports director Markus Gandler said
that Mayer _ banned from the Olympics following allegations of blood
doping at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City _ travelled to Turin
after getting the approval from the Austrian Olympic Committee, ORF
said.
Mayer fled the Turin Olympics in the wake of the raids, only to
crash his car into a police blockade just over the Austrian border
and ending up in a psychiatric hospital.
