Four more implicated in T-Mobile ring

Blood doping boosts available oxygen allowing athletes to do more work. While EPO use can be detected, adding back one's own blood is still difficult to catch. (Image credit: AFP)

The investigation into two former Freiburg University Clinic doctors at the centre of controversy surrounding alleged doping of T-Mobile riders has been extended to include four more practitioners, according to sports agency SID.

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Prosecutor Wolfgang Maier confirmed that four more doctors have been implicated in the case, a process which is trying to establish the facts surrounding practices in the Freiburg University Clinic throughout the late 1990s and during this decade. This latest information is due to be published in today's edition of the Badischer Zeitung.

The names of the doctors involved have not been revealed, but it's believed they were under scrutiny for "taking advantage" of those engaged in the practices but not for actual violation of anti-drug laws. Dr. Andreas Schmid and Dr Lothar Heinrich remain the only two practioners dismissed for direct violations in engaging in doping activities.

According to SID it's alleged the four doctors accepted money from Telekom and T-Mobile riders, acting as 'intermediaries' for Schmid and Heinrich. Both were responsible for the medical monitoring of the Telekom/T-Mobile team until 2007 and admitted their role in systemic doping within the squad, after which they were dismissed from the clinic. The details of their actions were published during May with the release of the Freiburg Report.

After two years of investigation, the commission of experts established by the University of Freiburg concluded that doping within the Telekom and T-Mobile was systemic from 1995 to 2006.