Doping dragnet results in arrests at Nordic worlds

German prosecutors said in a statement that nine of the buildings searched were in Erfurt, with Austrian police saying that an illegal doping lab was found there.

Nine people were arrested in total and 16 properties searched as part of the crackdown which involved 120 police officers and was dubbed 'Operation Bloodletting'.

Prosecutors said the police actions were sparked by revelations made by Austrian cross-country skier Johannes Duerr in a program broadcast on German television in January.

Duerr was thrown out of the Sochi Olympics in 2014 and labeled a "scoundrel" by his own team after testing positive for the blood booster EPO.

On the German TV program he set out detailed claims of how he went about doping, as well as alleging the complicity of some employees of the OSV.

Bad memories

The latest raids come after years of doping scandals that have plagued the world of winter sports.

In December, Austrian prosecutors announced that members of Russia's biathlon team were being investigated over alleged doping offenses at the 2017 world championships.

Shortly before the start of the competition, Austrian police raided the hotel where the Kazakh national team had been staying and seized several doping-related materials.

The former head of the International Biathlon Union, as well as its former general-secretary, are facing accusations that they helped cover up Russian doping in the sport.

Gandler said that Wednesday's raids stirred up bad memories, 13 years after Austria's Nordic ski team was shaken by a doping scandal during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

In that case, police seized doping materials in Austrian athletes' chalets and Gandler himself was among the athletes and coaches barred from the sport as a result.

However, he was cleared in 2009 and allowed to become a coach for the national team once again.

The scandal, in one of Austria's most prominent winter sport disciplines, prompted a toughening of the country's anti-doping legislation.

Agence France - Presse