The Karners' lawyer Roland Grilc stressed after the ruling that the Austrian Justice Ministry would have the final say in the issue, as he said the decision was political, according to the website of the daily Večer.

This means that US prosecutors will meet with Austrian prosecutors and the Karners to try to strike a deal, which has already been indicated, Grilc explained.

The US may give up the extradition in exchange for "some sort of punishment", added the lawyer, who believes this could happen within three months.

Britta Tichy of the Austrian Justice Ministry meanwhile told the STA that her ministry had nothing to do with the deal-making between the US prosecutors and the Karners, adding that the ministry usually only gave the final green light for extraditions.

However, should the US prosecutors strike a deal with the couple, the extradition might not go through at all, she said. Another possibility to stop the extradition procedure is that the Karners appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

The extradition request from the US is based on an indictment and an arrest warrant for the couple issued in Massachusetts on 3 March 2010.

The US authorities suspect the Karners of selling several hundred thousand vials of anabolic steroids between 2000 and 2008.

The 33-year-old Alenka Karner and 36-year-old Mihael Karner are suspected of managing a network of steroid dealers who had sold around EUR 38m worth of the illegal substance over the internet. The police say the couple subsequently laundered the money through real estate investments.

According to Grilc, Austria should not extradite the couple for formal reasons, as they are accused of different things in each country. The defence also believes that the disproportion in prison time they might face in Austria and the US is a violation of human rights.