Estonian ski coach gets suspended sentence in doping case

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An Estonian court has given a one-year suspended sentence to veteran ski coach Mati Alaver for his role in international doping.

The Baltic News Service reports that Alaver was found to have incited athletes to dope and accepted a plea bargain.

Estonia’s public broadcaster reports the court identified three Estonian athletes and one foreign athlete involved but ruled their names would not be disclosed.

Alaver’s case is linked to the arrests of five cross-country skiers, two of them Estonians, at the Nordic world championships in Austria in February.

The case has caused a scandal in Estonia, where cross-country skiers are star athletes who have won all of the small Baltic nation's seven Winter Olympic medals.

Alaver was stripped of two state honors by President Kersti Kaljulaid in March.