Italian teams were ‘dopers’

GARY NEVILLE and Roy Keane have alleged some of the players Manchester United faced in Europe under Alex Ferguson may have been taking performance-enhancing drugs. The former Old Trafford stars said Italian teams, in particular, had aroused the suspicions of the players, with Neville saying he believes some of them ‘weren’t clean’.

United came up against Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Roma and Lazio during the Ferguson era. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast with Keane, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright, Neville drew comparisons between football and sports that have had doping issues such as cycling. ‘There are a couple that stick in my mind,’ he said. ‘I think there were a few teams that we played against that weren’t clean.

‘We thought it at the time. I remember me and Giggsy in the mid-2000s, around the mid90s. My point is that when you look back now at what came out after, in cycling and other sports and doctors, we thought at the time there were things that physically… sorry, we were fit, we weren’t drinkers, there’s something not right. ‘I came off the pitch against an Italian team and thought, “That’s not right”, I’m sorry. ‘I know that a couple of the other lads mid-2000s thought exactly the same thing.’ Keane agreed as he recalled facing the Italians in Europe. ‘When we played certain teams I would be walking off and you were absolutely shattered,’ he said. ‘I remember it. I would be looking at the players I played against, a couple of the Italian teams, and they looked like they’d not even played a match. ‘Why can’t we talk about that? We’re not naming names.’

There is no suggestion any of the clubs were aware of any wrongdoing. They spoke out as current boss Erik ten Hag warned the new generation they have room for improvement.