GENEVA - Pop violinist Vanessa-Mae was banned from competitive skiing for four years on Tuesday for taking part in races that were fixed to allow her to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Malik Jefferson Jersey .The findings by the International Ski Federation exposed as a sham what many fans thought was a feel-good celebrity Olympic story.FIS also banned five race officials from Slovenia and Italy for between one and two years for their role in the scandal.Those who have been sanctioned have been sanctioned for good reason, FIS President Gian Franco Kasper told The Associated Press. At first we were laughing when we heard it. But then we realized its quite a serious thing.FIS said its hearing panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that the status of four womens giant slalom races were manipulated in January in Slovenia, a few weeks before the games.FIS detailed several rule-breaking incidents that rigged results to help the then 35-year-old Vanessa-Mae falsely improve her racer status near the OIympic entry deadline.Without the cheating orchestrated by her managers, Vanessa-Mae would not have achieved the necessary FIS point performance level to be eligible to participate in the Olympic Winter Games, the governing body said.In February at the Sochi Games, the celebrity musician who was raised in Britain raced for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn, using the last name of her Thai father. She finished last of 67 racers in the two-run giant slalom, more than 50 seconds behind gold medallist Tina Maze of Slovenia.Vanessa-Mae can appeal the rulings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.But it doesnt make much difference for her, Kasper said. She was racing (the Olympics) probably only once and thats all. But in any case we prevented her from being at the next Olympics.The next Winter Games are in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.FIS said it informed the International Olympic Committee, which can disqualify Vanessa-Mae from the Sochi Olympics.The IOC declined to comment on details of the case until possible appeals are completed.Should the judgment be confirmed the IOC will act on this in the framework of its policy of protecting the clean athletes, with zero tolerance towards the manipulation of results and any related corruption, the Olympic body said in a statement.IOC President Thomas Bach was photographed with Vanessa-Mae in Sochi and later appointed her to a working group meeting helping shape future policy for the Olympic movement.FIS said the scam involved falsely inflating the quality of four qualifying races to artificially boost Vanessa-Maes standing as a potential Olympian.Race rigging included inventing times for skiers who did not race and faking times for lower-quality skiers who did finish.A previously retired competitor with the best FIS points in the competition took part for the sole purpose of lowering the penalty to the benefit the participants in the races, FIS said.Race officials also broke rules by not changing the course design between the first and second runs, and allowing skiers to continue in poor weather which required abandonment.The competitions were organized at the request of the management of Vanessa Vanankorn, through the Thai Olympic Committee in its capacity as the FIS member National Ski Association, skiings governing body said.It is unclear if Thai Olympic officials were involved in the scam, or if they will face IOC sanctions.First you would have to figure out if the Thai Olympic Committee was really involved, and we have some doubts, said Kasper, who is an IOC member.The scandal was made public in July, several weeks after the IOC appointed Vanessa-Mae to an advisory group on cultural policy. The Slovenian ski federation punished officials and sent a report to FIS.The FIS ruling council will decide on annulling the fixed races at a meeting next Tuesday.___AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Rome contributed to this report. Logan Woodside Jersey . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil. Cordy Glenn Jersey . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. http://www.nflbengalsgearofficial.com/mark-walton-jersey/ . Bayern led second-place Leverkusen by 10 points with a game in hand, while Dortmund was another four points off the pace. Freiburg midfielder Felix Klaus scored in the last minute as his side twice came from behind to climb provisionally out of the relegation zone.VAL DISERE, France -- Two-time defending World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher limited his celebrations Saturday after dominating the treacherous Stade Olympique de Bellevarde course to win a giant slalom race. The Austrian produced a superb second run to win his third career giant slalom race and fourth overall at Val dIsere. However, Hirscher was disappointed that Ted Ligety did not finish. The American, seeking his fourth straight win in GS, made an uncharacteristic technical error and was among several racers to ski out and failed to qualify for the second run for the first time in nearly five years. Hirscher would prefer to measure his performance against Ligetys to see where he stands in GS terms. "Its a great victory for sure. But we dont know where we really are right now," Hirscher said. "Was it a really good run from us or is Ted skiing better than the rest of the world right now? Thats the question." It was Hirschers second win of the season after his slalom victory at Levi, Finland, and fourth podium from five races so far. His Val dIsere record is superb, and he will go for his eighth career podium at the French Alpine resort in Sundays slalom. "Im not the heaviest, largest guy in the World Cup. For me its easier to get the speed if its steep," Hirscher said. "I think its the steepest of the World Cup tour. I dont think Ive ever skied really bad here." With little snowfall in the past couple of weeks, the course was even more difficult. "It was definitely the toughest slope preparation Val dIsere has ever done," Hirscher said. "Normally it is a bit colder and the slope is not injected with so much water, so it is a kind of ice skating place." Hirscher was third after the first run, 0.41 seconds behind Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, but finished 0.76 seconds ahead of Thomas Fanara of France and 1.09 clear of Germanys Stefan Luitz. The Bellevarde course lived up to its tough reputation as Ligety, Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal and Bode Miller of the United States failed to finish their first runs. Miller got his skis tangled near the bottom and tuumbled over. Billy Price Jersey. U.S. mens head coach Sasha Rearick said Miller was unlucky. "Today he got his outside ski caught right at the initiation of the turn in the flat light. Those things can kind of happen," Rearick said. "I was proud of the effort he put in today and the way he approached the hill." Both Miller and Ligety will take part in Sundays slalom. "Looking forward to it," Rearick said. "Get some revenge on Val dIsere." The 24-year-old Hirscher won the same race at Val dIsere last year and also finished third in the slalom. "I have to train pretty early in the morning," he said. "I know exactly what I have to do tomorrow. Im looking forward to it." His winning margin would have been even larger, but he made a slight error halfway down as he veered to the left before managing to straighten his skis. The pressure was on Pinturault to respond and he started well enough, .28 back on first split, but lost speed at the bottom to finish fourth. Ligety won the GS at Soelden, Austria, and Beaver Creek, Colorado but ended up missing a gate turning in from the left side, going down on his hip and out of a first run for the first time since February 2009 at Sestriere, Italy. "Its been a few years. But Ive had a bunch of races where (on) second runs I went out," the 29-year-old Ligety said. "Just a little bit (of) bad luck on my part today." The four-time defending World Cup GS champion does not count the Bellevarde among his favourite courses. "Its always super, super bumpy and miserable to ski so I wasnt surprised by that at all," Ligety said. Svindal, an Olympic bronze medallist in the discipline, lost his balance approaching a gate from the right, missed the next gate and almost toppled over as his right foot lifted off the ground. Both of Luitzs World Cup podiums have been at Val dIsere. The 21-year-old German was second last year, before facing a cruciate knee ligament injury in February. "To be on the podium 10 months after an operation is unexpected, its a great comeback," Luitz said. Cheap Steelers Jerseys Cheap Patriots Jerseys Cheap Bills Jerseys Cheap Jets Jerseys Cheap Giants Jerseys Cheap Redskins Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Eagles Jerseys Cheap Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Raiders Jerseys Cheap Dolphins Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys ' ' '