Bonn, Germany, prosecutor Fred Apostel is preparing to announce an end to the investigation of Jan Ullrich this week, allegedly as early as Monday morning. German media reports speculate that he will announce a settlement involving a payment by Ullrich of anywhere from 300,000 to one million euros. It has also been announced that medications were taken into custody during the September 2006 search of Ullrich's house in Switzerland.
During that search, "not only electronic data and documents were taken, but also medications", Swiss public attorney Hans-Rüdi Graf told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper addded that insiders said that the Germans who conducted the search would "surely not {have confiscated} aspirin", but that it was rather something "of significance".
Part of the alleged deal is said to be Ullrich's agreement last week to turn over to the German authorities those items taken during the search. Focus news magazine said that investigators have told it that the material indicated that the team management of the T-Mobile Team, which no longer exists, was involved in doping practices. This will entail further investiagtions, the magazine said.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the investigation will be closed with a payment of 300,000 euros, but no confession of guilt. However, Focus magazine said that "in total" Ullrich's costs would be one million euros.
Ullrich is also facing disciplinary action by Swiss Olympic, which handles doping investigations for the Swiss cycling federation. "There will be an indictment, possibly before the summer vacation, and because it is Ullrich's second violation, it will deal with a lifetime ban," Bernhard Welten, head of Swiss Olympic's Anti-doping Commission told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "He obviously doped, or wanted to." Welten recently recieved some 1,500 pages of material, the newspaper reported.
If that wasn't enough bad news for Ullrich, he will be losing one of his commerical partners. In February 2007 it was announced that he had a sponsor and advertising contract with X-Bionic Sportswear, which makes clothing for competitive athletes. "The mood of our dealers has changed," Ranier Bommas, a spokesman for the Swiss company told the Süddeutsche. Therefore the company has most recently not used him in marketing or advertising. "The contract will be allowed to expire, it won't be extended."
(Additional reporting and research provided by Susan Westemeyer.)
