A report by the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) says that the lawyers of five athletes have met to discuss strategy in their appeals to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Schumacher's lawyer, Michael Lehner, told the German sports news agency SID that his client's B-sample from the Olympic Games in Beijing and re-tests of Tour de France 2008 samples had indicated that he had used the latest generation of EPO, known as CERA.

The four other athletes found to have used CERA include cyclist Davide Rebellin of Italy, the Olympic 1,500-meter champion Rashid Ramzi from Bahrain, Greek walker Thanasia Tsoumeleka and the Croatian 800-meter runner Vanya Perisic.

Schumacher was banned for two years for doping after his positive A-sample from the Tour de France last year and now faces a life-long ban for testing positive in his Olympic samples.

The German has protested his innocence and Lehner said he will contest as biased the management of Schumacher's samples by the French IOC laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry, which examined them. Lehner also said that the IOC had tested the B-samples without the required approval by the athlete.

The IOC keeps samples for eight years and they are subject to re-examination when new test methods are developed.

gb/SID/dpa

Editor: Chuck Penfold