IOC sanctions Latvian Ice Hockey Player Ralfs Freibergs

Lausanne, April 25: Sochi 2014, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that Ralfs Freibergs of Latvia has been excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Freibergs, 23, provided a urine sample on 22 February whose A and B samples indicated the presence of a prohibited substance.
The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed for this case of Denis Oswald (Chairman), Gunilla Lindberg and Claudia Bokel, decided the following:

I. The Athlete, Mr Ralfs Freibergs, Latvia, Ice Hockey is disqualified from the Men’s Play-offs Quarterfinals – Canada vs Latvia match.

II. The Athlete is considered as excluded from the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi in 2014.

III. The Athlete’s diploma (for placing 8th) is withdrawn.

IV. The International Ice Hockey Federation is hereby requested to make appropriate mention of the above in the record of the sports results, and to consider whether it should take any further action within its competence.

V. The Latvian Olympic Committee is hereby requested to return to the IOC, as soon as possible, the diploma awarded to the athlete in relation to the above-mentioned event.

VI. This decision shall enter into force immediately.

Under the IOC Anti-Doping Rules applicable to the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, testing took place under the IOC’s auspices from 30 January (the date of the opening of the Olympic Villages) to 23 February 2014 (the date of the Closing Ceremony). Within that period, the IOC systematically performed tests before and after events. After each event, the IOC systematically carried out tests on the top five finishers plus two at random.

The IOC also performed unannounced out-of-competition tests. Over the course of the Sochi Games, the IOC carried out some 2,812 tests (2,186 urine and 626 blood) – an Olympic Winter Games record. —- IOC