Doping Buzz!!

Vienna blood bank investigation closed
Austrian authorities have closed their investigation of "Humanplasma", a blood bank in Vienna. Charges could not be brought because blood doping is illegal in Austria only since last summer.
The investigation was opened in January 2008, based on allegations that some 30 to 50world-class athletes, ranging from skiers to cyclists, had visited the facilities for forbidden blood transfusions.
Blood doping became illegal in Austria only in August 2008. Before that, illegal doping was defined to explicitly include the use of medications. There was no indication that the Clinic used any sort of medications, prosecutors said, nor was there evidence of insurance fraud.(SW)
Publ.// Latest Cycling News, March 25, 2009 Edited by Bjorn Haake

Fifa and Uefa unite against WADA doping rule
Uefa has joined Fifa in opposing a rule that would allow drug-testers to know the whereabouts of top footballers for an hour each day.
Fifa opposed the rule last week, and they were backed up on Tuesday at the Uefa executive committee meeting in Copenhagen.
The two authorities issued a joint statement saying: "The governing bodies of Fifa and Uefa formally reject the stance taken by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) concerning the 'whereabouts' rule and, more specifically, the individual location of team sports' athletes."

Dutch event follows Berlin by inviting Chambers to compete
• Dwain Chambers 'very grateful' for Dutch invitation
• Sprinter has been asked to attack all-comers record
Dwain Chambers has been invited to attack the Dutch 100 metres all-comers' record in Uden on Saturday 27 June. The event, which holds a Dutch national permit, is not part of the Euromeetings group which has advised its members not to allow former drug cheats into their competitions. Chambers, who served a two-year suspension after testing positive for THG in 2003, said: "Uden approached me and showed their hand by giving me a race which comes at a good time of the season. It's a good start for me and I'm very grateful for their offer."
Stephan Kreij, a spokesman for the meeting, told De Telegraaf: "We have a new Mondo track and would like to see how fast that is. Dwain has [done] his … sentence. It is an accepted phenomenon that an athlete returns after suspension."
Chambers will be asked to challenge the current record of 10.08sec achieved by the American Leroy Burrell in Hengelo in 1994. "I'm not saying it will happen but, after their help, I'll be giving it everything I have," added Chambers, who will attend a warm-weather camp next month in Florida. Publ:// guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 25 March 2009 11.37 GMT

Champion Steinigen said East German biathletes drank doping punch
Hamburg - East German biathletes were given banned substances in drinks during the 1980s, Olympic biathlon champion Jens Steinigen said Tuesday. Speaking to German Press Agency dpa Steinigen said that the practice was then stopped.
"The team doctor at the time then stopped this as there were obviously problems with giving the right doses. Nobody knew how much the athlete drank and thereby took doping substances," he said.
Steinigen, who competed for East Germany but won a relay gold for Germany at the 1992Games in Albertville, said that until 1985 performance-enhancing substances, mainly anabolic steroids like Oral-Turinabol, were mixed into sports drinks. (dpa)
:// Submitted by Mohit Joshi on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 14:34.