In their investigation, the journalists quickly found themselves implicated not in scandals that involved the CIO, but rather in scandals that involved the Austrian Olympic movement and the country’s political affairs. It is from starting with a contract between Walter Mayer, Austrian trainer who was at the heart of a doping scandal during the 2002 and 2006 Olympic Games, and the Austrian Olympic movement, whose funds come from the state, that these two journalists began to work. The latter obtained this contract of 200’000 euros, which prevented the trainer from speaking more openly about the doping scandal so as not to compromise Salzburg’s candidacy, from the hands of Walter Mayer’s wife.
From this incriminating evidence, they were able to detect an important corruption network implicating the Austrian Olympic movement as well as politicians to end up discovering millions in dirty money. After that, and following the choice of Sotchi to organize the 2014 Olympic Games, the Austrian Olympic Committee will be entirely modified.
Here are a few important points raised by Rainer Fleckl and Eric Vogl, from their investigation:
“ Our boss never pressured us, we were free in our research, which facilitated our task ”
“ You need to surround yourself with good people and have friends, and in addition these need to trust you ”
“ It is important to record witnesses, when possible, in order to preserve a proof of their statements ”
“ As soon as a meeting is accepted, it needs to happen very quickly, as people can change their minds or we can make them change their minds very quickly ”
“ During the meeting, you need to come with the right people so that the witness does not feel too ‘interrogated’ as they could be by a journalist ”
" Not publishing immediately the results of the investigation can be important, so that witnesses can prepare themselves against any eventual continuation or backlash of the story ”