Vienna - Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger will sue the ruling body FIS for compensation over a crash at a World Cup race in Norway in which he lost his lower leg. The Austrian Press Agency APA reported on Monday that Lanzinger's lawyer, Manfred Ainedter, has sent an according letter to FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper.
The compensation claim comes in the wake of a report from a Munich doctor who said that Lanzinger's left leg had to be amputated below the knee due to a delay in medical treatment.
Lanzinger, 27, crashed during a super-G in Lillehammer in March. He was first taken to hospital in nearby Lillehammer and then on to a special clinic in Oslo.
Citing the report by the Munich vascular surgeon Bernd Steckmaier, Ainedter said that no appropriate treatment was available in Lillehammer. He also spoke of incorrect treatment in Oslo.
"Firstly, the helicopter was not a rescue helicopter. Secondly, the hospital at Lillehammer did not have the expertise to treat such an injury. And thirdly, there was no specialist at the Ulleval University Hospital in Oslo - they had to fly in an Austrian specialist," Ainedter later told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
The six-hour delay may have been the reason for the decision to amputate, Ainedter said.
It remains unclear whether the FIS or local organizers are to blame. The FIS denied any negligence in the Lanzinger case.
"This is mainly an issue for FIS, but the case can be widened to include the organizers at Kvitfjell. It depends on how FIS responds," Ainedter told NRK.
Ainedter said that FIS has a three-week deadline to respond, adding that the size of the damages was yet to be determined but could be several hundred thousand euros (dollars).
