Vanessa-Mae's qualification for the Winter Olympics in Sochi 'fixed'

Four Slovenian ski officials have been suspended for allegedly rigging the times recorded by pop violinist Vanessa-Mae in order to help her qualify for the Winter Olympics in Sochi earlier this year.

Competing in Sochi for Thailand as Vanessa Vanakorn - using the surname of her Thai father - she finished a distant last among the 67 racers who completed the two runs in the Olympic giant slalom.

To earn enough points to be eligible for the games in February, she had to compete in official races in Sweden, Norway Switzerland and Slovenia.

The Slovenian Ski Association has confirmed that it has found evidence showing that the races it hosted in January were "fixed at the behest of Thai ski officials to meet her qualifying criteria for Sochi."

The Slovenian association president, Jurij Zurej, said the suspected irregularities included falsification of times and rankings.

Zurej said: "We have discussed the findings and we have discovered that there were clear breaches of the FIS rules
and the rules of the Slovenian Ski Association.

"Based on those findings, we have decided that the four persons responsible for that race will not be able to work in the name of the SSA for a period of four years, and we have sent a sample of the findings to the public prosecutor."

However, Zurej insisted there was no direct evidence to link the improprieties to Mae's qualification for the Sochi Games and he added that there is no evidence she would have known about any violations.

He added: "We must state clearly that there is absolutely no proof any athlete including Vanessa was [knowingly] involved in any activities that would breach any of our rules or those of FIS."

The musician, 35, who was born in Singapore and raised in Britain, said after finishing the race in Sochi that she was thrilled to have taken part, despite clocking her two runs in a total of three minutes 26.97 seconds - 50.1 seconds slower than gold medallist Tina Maze, herself a Slovenian.

"The Olympics is the greatest show on earth and to just share the same snow, to be able to slide down the same snow that the elite skiers carve down is just an honour and a privilege," Vanessa-Mae said at the time.

The Slovenian association has proposed four-year suspensions for the four officials involved in the organisation of the races, including Vlado Makuc, the head of the country's Alpine skiing body.

The findings of the investigation will also be forwarded to the Slovenian police and FIS, the Swiss-based international ski federation.