The International Olympic Committee have announced that drug tests carried out on 10 Austrian athletes after a late-night raid at the weekend have come back negative.

The athletes were given urine tests following the raid by Italian police who were acting on a tip-off that banned coach Walter Mayer was staying with the team.

Mayer was banned from Turin and the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver after the discovery of blood transfusion equipment in his accommodation in Salt Lake City four years ago.

The IOC said they had elected to break from normal procedure and disclose the negative results of the tests "due to the exceptional nature of this case".

But they added that inquiries relating to the incident, likely to include the alleged involvement of Mayer with the Austrian team, were ongoing.

The IOC added in a statement: "The IOC would like to stress that the doping controls of Saturday night and their ensuing results are only one element of what is undoubtedly an affair which goes far wider.

"The IOC takes this affair very seriously and is determined to do everything within its powers to bring full clarity.

"This will include in due course the setting up of a disciplinary commission, which will study the various files and information gathered and hear the relevant persons."

Austrian officials strongly protested the circumstances of the raid which they claim ruined their chances of success in the following day's men's 4x10km relay in which they finished last.

Austrian cross-country press officer Erich Wagner said at the time: "(The athletes) were asleep when something like six guys were in their room with guns.

"They spread their legs, put their hands behind their necks and searched their bodies, their bags, everything. As far as I know this has never happened at an Olympic Winter Games."

The IOC said they were acting on information provided to them by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which indicated the possible presence of Mayer in the private accommodation of the Austrian team.