Operation Aderlass

Athletes from various disciplines were named as alleged customers of Schmidt's, receiving illegal blood transfusion for the purpose of enhancing performances, with several of them later confessing.

The investigation was sparked following a confession by cross-country skier Johannes Dürr in early 2019, leading to arrests and raids in both Schmidt's Erfurt offices as well as during the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019.

Over the following months, prominent athletes such as cyclists Alessandro Petacchi and Danilo Hondo were charged with having used Schmidt's services for the purposes of doping.

He named Mark Schmidt, a physician based in the German city of Erfurt, as the head of an operation which carried out systematic blood doping.

These were the cross-country skiers Max Hauke and Dominik Baldauf from Austria, Andreas Veerpalu and Karel Tammjärv from Estonia, as well as Alexey Poltoranin from Kazakhstan.

[6] On 27 May 2019, the media reported that alpine ski racer Hannes Reichelt was interviewed by the police in the preceding week, concerning possible involvement in the affair.

[9] Max Hauke received a suspended five-month sentence on 30 October 2019 from an Innsbruck court for doping violations reaching back to 2015.

[14] The International Ski Federation (FIS) handed four-year bans from competition to Andreas Veerpalu, Karel Tammjärv, and Algo Kärp as well as two Estonian coaches on 29 November 2019.

[19] On 3 March 2019, Stefan Denifl, who last rode for the Aqua Blue Sport team, confessed to using blood doping under the assistance of Schmidt.

[22] Both were handed four-year bans by the Austrian anti-doping organisation on 27 June 2019,[23] and faced charges for commercial sports fraud in addition to their suspensions.

[24] On 22 July 2020, Preidler was found guilty of fraud by the Innsbruck Regional Court and handed a twelve-month suspended prison sentence as well as being fined €2,880.

[27] The following day, French newspaper Le Monde announced that retired Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi had allegedly worked with Schmidt in 2012 and 2013.

[34] Also in May 2019, the UCI suspended mountain biker Christina Kollmann due to blood doping violations in relation to Operation Aderlass.

[24] Retired cyclist Pirmin Lang, who last rode for IAM Cycling, admitted to his involvement with Aderlass on 22 February 2020, following investigations by Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

[37] In September 2021, Björn Thurau was suspended from competition for nine years and six months, after his involvement came to light due to chat messages he had exchanged with Lang.

[39] In its opening statement, the defense accused the prosecution of procedural errors, including illegal surveillance methods, incomplete paperwork, and undue custody.

[43] The contractor, Dirk Q., was sentenced to two years on probation in 2008 for bodily harm resulting in death, following an incident in January 2003, in which he allegedly assaulted two people, one of whom later died.