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ARD link Kittel to German blood doping investigation

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hrotha said:
It's been established that other sports were covered up. The initial reports said there were blood bags belonging to athletes of many sports. Only cycling names were made public, and the official story was changed to say only cycling was involved. Years later, it was revealed that some of the bags belonged to track & field athlete Marta Domínguez.



I hate things like this. I hope we find out all the names, but I doubt it.
 
Mar 4, 2010
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Waterloo Sunrise said:
“Dr. Franke applied the following method for the mentioned syndrome. He took a very small amount (a few cc) of blood from the body via a syringe and put this under UV lighting immediately to fight the infection in the blood. This blood was subsequently reinserted into the body. The entire treatment did not take more than a few minutes. It did not involve an infusion or transfusion.”

Straight forwardly ***.

If that's an accurate description of the treatment, is it considered doping or not?
 
May 11, 2009
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While this UV procedure sounds wierd a quick check of the internet indicates this procedure is, or was, used by some doctors to treat flu, cancer, and other ailments (whether standard practice or research I did not research). The procedure is also used by hospitals to prepare blood for blood transfusions.
 
marcelkittel Marcel Kittel
Can't say how hard that is.I couldn't tweet something because 140 signs are not enough to explain the story.Please read 1t4i.com/news/2074/
30-01-2012
As a cycling team, we attach great value to integrity and transparency. These principles are rooted in the core values of our cycling team to which the management, employees and cyclists have submitted and according to which they act. Because of this transparency and integrity, we can announce the following as a response to the broadcast of Sportschau, the German sports television program of the ARD, of January 29 2012.
In this broadcast, the name of cyclist Marcel Kittel was mentioned in an investigation into Dr. Andreas Franke, who worked for the Olympic point of support in Erfurt that is supported by the German government and is financed by public means. This point of support is the official contact point for various sportsmen from various sport disciplines from this region. For Marcel Kittel, this doctor was also his official contact point in case of health problems. Furthermore, the management of Project 1t4i can report that two other cyclists of the team, Patrick Gretsch and John Degenkolb have also had contact with this doctor in the past.
The team has not heard from the German Public Prosecutor that investigates Dr. Franke, nor from the German anti-doping agency in Bonn, nor from the international world anti-doping agency WADA. The team was also not approached by the German television network ARD.
The facts
The following facts are known to the team.
As an 18-year-old sportsman from the region of Erfort and therefore part of this Olympic point of support, Marcel Kittel should contact the doctor concerned in case of illness. In 2007 and 2008, Marcel visited this doctor when he was ill. The doctor decided to treat him with the UV-treatment mentioned in the program of Sportschau. Project 1t4i cyclists John Degenkolb and Patrick Gretsch were also part of this point of support and visited this doctor in case of illness. Patrick Gretsch also received the UV-treatment from Dr. Franke. John Degenkolb has never received this treatment. Marcel Kittel, Patrick Gretsch and John Degenkolb have never had to pay any financial compensation to this point of support or the aforementioned doctor.
Marcel Kittel and Patrick Gretsch have received this treatment when they were young. Ever since they have been active for Project 1t4i, and its predecessor Skil-Shimano, they have been treated by the medical staff of the team completely and have not undergone this treatment since respectively 2008 and 2010.
In January 2011, the world anti-doping agency WADA changed the anti-doping codex and all treatments with blood were prohibited. The facts concerning Marcel Kittel and Patrick Gretsch have all occurred before January 2011.
The UV-treatment concerned does not improve performance, according to various experts. It is a method that is mainly used in Eastern Europe with patients to increase their resistance to infection.
Dr. Franke applied the following method for the mentioned syndrome. He took a very small amount (a few cc) of blood from the body via a syringe and put this under UV lighting immediately to fight the infection in the blood. This blood was subsequently reinserted into the body. The entire treatment did not take more than a few minutes. It did not involve an infusion or transfusion.
Scientists doubt the effectiveness of this method, nevertheless, the treatment is customary in Eastern Europe and is also performed on non-athletes who suffer from an infectious disease.
In 2007 and 2008, Marcel Kittel received this treatment from dr. Franke when he suffered from an infection. Patrick Gretsch has received the same treatment when he also suffered from an infection.
The team has contacted the UCI and the Dutch doping authorities and can allow its cyclists to start in the coming races. Marcel Kittel and Patrick Gretsch are not suspected of violation of the anti-doping regulation.
They are also not suspects in the investigation. They will offer all cooperation to the NADA, WADA or the Department of Justice in the investigation into this doctor of the Olympic point of support where they expected to be in good hands.
 
maltiv said:
If they have a long list of names then they obviously name all cyclists involved (because all cyclists are filthy dopers anyway, right?) + 2 from other sports (obviously not football or tennis) for credibility. Then they hope the public forgets that there were other athletes involved and order will be restored. Such as in Operation Puerto where there were like 140 athletes involved and the only ones mentioned with names were the 20 cyclists or so, which worked surprisingly well given that it only gave cycling a bad name.

The German media seems to be focused on Claudia Pechstein, which makes sense since she is the winner of 9 Olympic medals, 5 of them gold. She was banned from the Vancouver Olympics based on blood passport irregularities appealing all the way to CAS.

Pechstein is also a sergeant in the German Federal Police, so you know she is a respecter of the rule of law.
 
Jun 12, 2010
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Tony Marrtin's teams so far:


Sportlicher Werdegang

Omega Pharma - Quick-Step (seit 2012)
Team HTC-Highroad (2008-2011)
Thüringer Energie Team (2006-2007)
TEAG Team Köstritzer (2004-2005)
Thüringer Junioren Bundesligateam (2002-2003)
RSV Seeheim (2000-2001)
Henninger Sossenheim (1999)


he should issue a statement sooner or later..
 
Jun 29, 2009
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well it is bs, the german anti-doping agency hasnt even started the investigation really so its bs for Kittel to say he is not under investigation, its also bs to declare the procedure legal, Kittel and his doc are not gonna decide whats legal or not. its also bs to say it has nothing to do with transfusion or infusion, you have to bring the blood out and you have to put it back in...the law permitting any kind of blood transfusion just in an acute medical situation exists since 05.
 
Mar 4, 2010
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Sophistic said:
well it is bs, the german anti-doping agency hasnt even started the investigation really so its bs for Kittel to say he is not under investigation, its also bs to declare the procedure legal, Kittel and his doc are not gonna decide whats legal or not. its also bs to say it has nothing to do with transfusion or infusion, you have to bring the blood out and you have to put it back in...the law permitting any kind of blood transfusion just in an acute medical situation exists since 05.

WADA states German UV blood treatment was not banned until 2011

Contacted after media reports linked Project1T4i sprinter Marcel Kittel to UV blood treatments at a clinic in Erfurt in German, the World Anti Doping Agency WADA has confirmed that the procedure has only been banned since last year.

“I can confirm that M2.3 was added to the List of Prohibited Substances and Methods in 2011 in response to a number of blood manipulation methods brought to WADA's attention,” WADA’s communications director Terence O’Rorke told VeloNation today.

The category M2 is defined as prohibited methods under WADA’s 2011 Prohibited List. M2.1 refers to tampering which seeks to alter the integrity and validity of samples. M2.2 bans all intravenous infusions other than those which are ‘legitimately received in the course of hospital admissions or clinical investigations.’

Category M2.3, the one O’Rorke referred to, states that the ‘sequential withdrawal, manipulation and reinfusion of whole blood into the circulatory system is prohibited.’

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...-was-not-banned-until-2011.aspx#ixzz1l21vx4CW

The authorities should focus on actual doping rather than quackery. Who thinks it's performance enhancing to put some cc's of blood under a UV-light?
 
Mar 4, 2010
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"Various in-vitro-tests verified that biological soft laser irradiation of white blood cells caused various positive effects, in particular expression of immunoglobulins, interferons and interleukins."

"immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein produced by B-cells that is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses."

"Interferons (IFNs) are proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens—such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites—or tumor cells. They allow for communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that eradicate pathogens or tumors."

"Ultraviolet blood irradiation may also be applied, though it involves drawing blood out through a vein and irradiating it outside of the body. Quackwatch, lists ultraviolet blood irradiation therapy as a questionable treatment."

"Laser blood irradiation therapy was government-certified in Germany in 2005. In the following two years, this method was established in more than 300 centers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Australia."
 
Jun 29, 2009
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the procedure wasnt explicitly banned until 2011, that doesnt mean that the procedure hasnt violated existing rules. the head of the german anti doping agency said yesterday that they are starting an investigation and one of the wada guys said that infusions have been illegal for years(if its not for an acute medical problem).
 
May 26, 2010
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The pros still not doing themselves any favours.

If German pros are still taking the risks to try anything to dope and avoid a positive after the fiasco of seeing their sponsorship money disappearing (t-mobile and recently HTC) it blows out the argument that it is a 'cleaner' sport.

Hope Wada bans them if proven they took out blood and re-infused.
 
Mar 4, 2010
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Sophistic said:
the procedure wasnt explicitly banned until 2011, that doesnt mean that the procedure hasnt violated existing rules. the head of the german anti doping agency said yesterday that they are starting an investigation and one of the wada guys said that infusions have been illegal for years(if its not for an acute medical problem).

Was it explicitly banned? Does M2.3 explicitly mention UV-irradiation of blood?
Infusion, eh? So the UV-light thing doesn't even matter? If you stick a syringe in your veins, fill it up, take it out, put it back in and empty it, you're a doper?

Benotti69 said:
The pros still not doing themselves any favours.

If German pros are still taking the risks to try anything to dope and avoid a positive after the fiasco of seeing their sponsorship money disappearing (t-mobile and recently HTC) it blows out the argument that it is a 'cleaner' sport.

Hope Wada bans them if proven they took out blood and re-infused.

Why? There has not been a shred of evidence presented to show that any performance enhancing treatment was carried out. I want athletes banned for getting caught actually doping, not because WADA has decided to treat anything involving blood as criminal.
 
Tyler'sTwin said:
Was it explicitly banned? Does M2.3 explicitly mention UV-irradiation of blood?
Infusion, eh? So the UV-light thing doesn't even matter? If you stick a syringe in your veins, fill it up, take it out, put it back in and empty it, you're a doper?



Why? There has not been a shred of evidence presented to show that any performance enhancing treatment was carried out. I want athletes banned for getting caught actually doping, not because WADA has decided to treat anything involving blood as criminal.
Indeed. Aim a lamp at a vein (some are on the surface). No needles is a hard rule.
That's why at times athletes have to go to great length to prove that they got a substance in their urine through initial oral consumption, or through the skin. Even vitamin shots are prohibited, unless explicitally part of urgent medical treatment.
 
Aug 6, 2011
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I think it all comes down to whether the treatment was ordered for medical purposes or not. The fact that flu-treatment usually is not a medical emergency might be the fact that's going to work against Kittel.

His story, however, is one of the more convincing stories I've read so far. But, it's still a story and he, or an advisor, had plenty of time to come up with it. On the other hand, being young and trusting a doctor, if true, is in my eyes forgivable. I don't think the rules will agree with me, though.
 
May 26, 2010
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Tyler'sTwin said:
Why? There has not been a shred of evidence presented to show that any performance enhancing treatment was carried out. I want athletes banned for getting caught actually doping, not because WADA has decided to treat anything involving blood as criminal.

Sure, Washed blood makes you faster everyone knows that ;)

Intention to gain an enhancement in the performance is a banning offence, ask Basso :)
 
May 6, 2009
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Seems like a weird thing to do with a UV light, I mean my treatment for the flu is to go to the doctor and he writes me up a script and I go to the chemist and get my medicine. Even if they didn't do anything wrong, still seems bizarre.
 
Mar 4, 2010
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Benotti69 said:
Sure, Washed blood makes you faster everyone knows that ;)

Intention to gain an enhancement in the performance is a banning offence, ask Basso :)

No, intention to use banned substances/methods is a bannable offence. Every athlete wants to enhance his/her performance whether it's by training, diet or whatever. There's no indication that Kittel et al were looking for performance enhancement, nor does it matter. The relevant questions should be:

1) Does it actually enhance performance?
2) Is it an unfair means of performance enhancement?

The answer to the latter should certainly be "yes", if it can be shown that UV-light magically increases O2 capacity, but I very much doubt that it does. It is evident that this is just a case of mindless "zero tolerance". Especially if you're considered a blood doper just for extracting a syringe of blood and shooting it back X minutes later.
 
Tyler'sTwin said:
No, intention to use banned substances/methods is a bannable offence. Every athlete wants to enhance his/her performance whether it's by training, diet or whatever. There's no indication that Kittel et al were looking for performance enhancement, nor does it matter. The relevant questions should be:

1) Does it actually enhance performance?
2) Is it an unfair means of performance enhancement?

The answer to the latter should certainly be "yes", if it can be shown that UV-light magically increases O2 capacity, but I very much doubt that it does. It is evident that this is just a case of mindless "zero tolerance". Especially if you're considered a blood doper just for extracting a syringe of blood and shooting it back X minutes later.
1) irrelevant. Smoking pot doesn't make you a fast track runner or cyclist either. Get caught with it in your blood, though...
 

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