A probe into suspected doping by the Austrian cross-country team at the Turin Winter Olympics took a new twist Monday night when police raided the flat of the coach embroiled in the scandal.

According to Italian prosecutors, the Austrian team had rented "official" lodgings for coach Walter Mayer, but he never stayed there.

A search of Mayer's secret flat turned up "various material which we can define as useful for our investigation," a source close to the probe said Tuesday.

Mayer appeared in an Austrian court Tuesday to face charges of resisting arrest and drunk driving after trying to drive through a police roadblock in a headlong flight from the Games.

The scandal took a political turn as the country's Green party demanded the resignation of the head of the Austrian skiing federation, Peter Schroecksnadel.

The Greens demanded to know if it was "really possible" that only Mayer and a top biathlete, Walter Perner, were involved in the doping case.

Wolfgang Perner, one of two athletes who fled the Olympic Games after a Sunday night Italian police raid, admitted taking banned substances and said he was quitting the sport.

On Tuesday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed it would take another couple of days to have the results of anti- doping tests carried out on ten athletes after the raid.

Austria protested to the IOC over the disruption and lack of sleep caused to its 10X4 km relay team by the raid.

The team failed to finish the event, which was won by Italy.

Before the Austrian raid, a Russian biathlete was banned for two years and had her silver medal confiscated after testing positive for a banned substance.

She may face criminal charges under Italy's strict anti-doping laws.

The number of tests at this Olympics has risen by more than 70 percent compared to Salt Lake, Italian News Agency ANSA said on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua