Hamburg - The Austrian ski federation (OeSV) announced Monday that it is to take legal action against L'Equipe after the French sports newspaper published an article claiming an Austrian biathlete was one of five skiers who had failed a dope test.

"The OeSV biathletes have undergone doping controls several times in recent weeks and following discussions with the national anti- doping agency (NADA) and the IBU
(International Biathlon Union) there are absolutely no complaints," said OeSV sporting director Markus Gandler in a statement.

"The Austrian ski federation will take legal steps against the L'Equipe newspaper because of this."

The weekend allegations couldn't come at a worse time with Austria's biathletes preparing for the world championships in South Korea's Pyeongchang, which take place February 14-22. (dpa)