IOC Says Vanessa-Mae Allegations a Matter for Slovenia, FIS Officials

(ATR) The IOC tellsAround the RingsSlovenian skiing officials must ultimately resolve new allegations of falsified qualification records for Vanessa Vanakorn.

The pop-violinist competed in Sochi for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn, finishing last in the giant slalom competition. To become eligible to compete in the Games, she had to compete in official races in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, and Slovenia.

However, media reports say that races hosted in Slovenia in January were fixed at Thai skiing officials' requests so she could meet qualifying criteria for Sochi. Among The allegations include falsifications of time and rankings.

A spokesperson for the IOC said in an email to ATR: "This is primarily a matter for the Slovenian Ski Federation and eventually FIS."

On Friday, the Slovenia Ski Association suspended four officials for allegedly tampering with Vanessa-Mae’s pre-Sochi results.

"The starting list included a person who did not even compete, a racer who fell was registered as finishing high in the standings," Slovenian Ski Association president Jurij Zurej told Reuters on Friday. "In addition, the dates of the competitions did not match the actual state when the races were held."

"We decided that four officials involved in the competition cannot cooperate with the association for a period of four years."

Zurej added that Vanessa-Mae might not have known about the violations at the time of the race.

Written by Andrew Murrell.

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