Georg Totschnig will sue the German television station ARD for libel and defamation for its broadcast earlier this month claiming he was a blood-doping client at the Viennese blood bank "Humanplasma", even though he knows that "the damage can't be mended.".
His attorneys, Barbara Auzinger and Bertram Dietrich, of Vienna, will file suit against the ARD early next week, with additional suits against print media possible later in the week.
According to the Austrian press service, APA, Auzinger said that ARD ran its story without giving Totschnig a chance to take a position. The ARD's chief editor has since apologized to the Austrian rider, who retired in 2006.
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