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**truebluefan** · 07-02-2008, 07:32 PM

Finland’s leading ski organization backed a top skiing official, despite allegations by a former trainer that he knew about doping among cross country skiers.

At a special meeting of the Finnish Ski Association to discuss the recent allegations, officials said Friday that the organization’s secretary-general Jari Piirainen should not step down.

Piirainen was appointed to the position after his predecessor was fired in the wake of Finland’s largest doping scandal in 2001, when six top cross country skiers tested positive for banned substances at the Lahti world championships.

Former ski coach Kari-Pekka Kyro, who acknowledged he helped dope skiers at Lahti, has repeated allegations that there was systematic doping among Finnish skiers before then. In a string of allegations since last week, Kyro also said Piirainen and other trainers knew about it.

Piirainen has denied the charges and has threatened legal action.

In 2004, Kyro was found guilty of smuggling banned substances and attempted fraud. He was convicted for importing EPO, an endurance-enhancing drug, and growth hormones during 1999 and 2000.

He is the only ski coach working with the association at the time of the doping scandal who has been charged.

The Lahti scandal shook this winter-sports loving nation, causing the government to reconsider benefits to skiers, and many sponsors canceled funding.

In a report to the government two months ago, skiing officials denied any knowledge of doping among cross country skiers in the 1990s. Piirainen said he could with an “open heart” defend his organization against such claims.

The National Bureau of Investigation has said it will open an investigation into the new allegations next month.

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