Former ski coach Kyrö reported to be source in TV news story on doping

Prosecutor interested in how case could affect court decisions from 1999 and 2000

Kari-Pekka Kyrö

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Kari-Pekka Kyrö, the former head coach of the Finnish national skiing team, was interviewed by the office of the Prosecutor General in Jyväskylä on Tuesday.
      The interview was sparked by a news item on the commercial television channel Nelonen alleging widespread sports doping in the association in the 1990s. It has now been reported that Kyrö himself was one of the sources for the item on sports doping.
      Kyrö would not comment on what had been discussed during the discussions. He also would not say if he had been one of the sources of Nelonen's doping story.
     
Prosecutor-General Jarmo Rautakoski confirmed to the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) that Kyrö was one of the sources of the Nelonen story. However, Nelonen editor-in-chief Eero Hyvönen refused to confirm or deny the report on Tuesday evening.
      “I cannot comment on the matter. I do not have permission to reveal names”, Hyvönen explained to Helsingin Sanomat.
      The interest of the office of the Prosecutor-General is linked primarily to a sports doping trial dating back ten years, in which the editor-in-chief of the Finnish News Agency (STT) and an STT journalist were convicted of libel.
      With new evidence, the office might apply to the Finnish Supreme Court to seek that the convictions should be quashed. Kyrö’s status in Tuesday’s interview was not that of a criminal suspect, nor a witness.
     
The current editor-in-chief of STT, Mika Pettersson, commented briefly on Tuesday evening on the information that was made public.
      “STT is following the activities of the Prosecutor-General. If STT has reason for active measures, the board of directors of STT will decide on the action to be taken”, Pettersson pointed out.
     
The managing director of the Finnish Ski Association, Jari Piranen, welcomes the fact that the doping issues that have come out in the media are being examined by an impartial body.
      “I had pondered in my own mind what source might be involved. His [Kyrö’s] name was also in my mind. If he is the source, then it is impossible to say what the motive might be. What is positive for clearing up this matter is that the whole affair is in neutral hands”, Piiranen said, referring to the office of the Prosecutor-General.
     
The latest uproar emerged last month when the Nelonen TV news reported that Finnish competitive cross-country skiing in the 1990s was largely based on doping. Piirainen has called for all possible sources to come out and state their claims openly.
      The channel also said on Tuesday that a Finnish male skier had lowered his haemoglobin level before the 1997 Nordic World Championships in the Norwegian city of Trondheim by giving blood.
      Piiranen says that he is hearing about the matter now for the first time.
      “I hope that the matter can be cleared up so that we might concentrate on the future, instead of digging through old issues.”
     
Reports that Kyrö was the source of the Nelonen doping story were first made public on the websites of YLE and the late-edition tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish Ski Association on doping claims: skiers were offered baking powder (2.5.2008)
  TV channel Nelonen: Finnish Ski Association covered up widespread doping in 1990s (23.4.2008)

See also:
  Appeals Court reduces sentences in STT doping libel case (31.10.2000)

Helsingin Sanomat