Mark S had previously confessed, in a written statement read by his lawyers, to having engaged in illegal practices having been accused of violating pharmaceutical and doping laws in nearly 150 cases. The charges also include one count of grievous injury.

Prosecutor Kai Graeber said the doctor wanted to benefit financially from his offences and that his medical oath had been “completely thrown in the bin.” The doctor should also be banned from practising for five years.

The prosecution asked for a two and a half year prison sentence for accomplice Dirk Q, who due to spending two years in custody awaiting trial would not need to return to jail.

Other accomplices, including the father of Mark S, are set to avoid prison through requested suspended sentences.

According to the indictment, the doctor doped athletes between 2011 and 2019, including competitors at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, world championship events and cycling’s Tour de France.

He was detained in February 2019 following raids on his home in Erfurt, Germany, and at the Nordic skiing world championships in Seefeld, Austria.