The Irish Mail on Sunday

The CASES under the microscope

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JUNE 2013: Four members of Russia’s European Under-21 Championsh­ip team provided anomalous samples. Two had abnormally high testostero­ne levels indicative of doping, those players given code numbers 550 and 1001 by Prof Richard McLaren in his report for the World AntiDoping Agency. Moscow lab boss Grigory Rodchenkov was ordered by Ministry of Sport official Alexei Velikodny to ‘save’ (cover up) the cases. One player (code 236) tested positive for cannabis, with Rodchenkov noting ‘mayhem’. Another player (code 366) gave a sample high in alcohol. ‘How much had he to drink?’ asked Rodchenkov. A number of players from that squad have since played for the senior national team. MARCH 2014: Two members of Russia’s U-17 squad returned anomalous samples. One player (code 973) tested positive for triamteren­e, a banned diuretic. Another player (code 597) had arimistan, a growth hormone that could boost performanc­e, in his sample. It wasn’t then banned (it has been since) but a note was made to check why the player was using it.

JUNE 2014: The entire 23-man Russia 2014 World Cup squad provided samples on June 3 before leaving for the tournament in Brazil. Evidence gathered by McLaren’s team suggests the squad was under ‘protection’ — hence asking FIFA to probe the matter and prove tampering or clear everyone.

AUGUST 2014: A player (code 12) who featured game between Rostov and Krasnodar on August 17 tested positive for banned hormone, hexarelin. McLaren thinks this case was personally covered up by Mutko on the basis of notes in paperwork saying ‘save’ was ‘the decision of VL’ — VL being Mutko’s first two initials.

MAY 2015: A player (code 303) who featured in game between Torpedo Moscow and Mordovia Saransk on May 30 tested positive for steroid dexamethas­one. On 4 June, an email from Velikodny ordered Rodchenkov to ‘save’ this player, now a Russia internatio­nal.

In addition to these 31 cases, there was a positive marijuana sample, plus intelligen­ce that a female player and a seven-a-side male player had unusual findings. FIFA’s answers to the MoS reveal further, previously unknown cases were also passed to them.

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