DOPERS FEAR BLOOD TRAP
Spanish judge releases samples for testing
ADOPiNG scandal which could be the biggest ever will finally be exposed after a Spanish judge said bags of blood must be handed over to sports authorities.
More than 211 bags will be made available to the World anti-Doping agency (WaDa), cycling bosses uCi and the italian Olympic Committee.
The bags were seized 10 years ago during the Operation Puerto investigation into Dr eufemiano Fuentes (right), nicknamed Dr Blood by his clients because of his expertise in infusing their blood with performance-enhancers.
Three years ago a Spanish judge controversially ordered the samples to be destroyed, leading many including andy Murray to cry conspiracy.
‘Case is beyond a joke. Why would court order blood bags to be destroyed? #coverup’ he tweeted at the time.
However, an appeal judge has now ordered the blood bags to be released.
Fuentes has boasted in the past of treating footballers, tennis players, boxers, athletes and cyclists and while football has remained largely untouched by doping scandals, this could put it in the spotlight.
Jesus Manzano, the former cyclist who blew the whistle on Fuentes in 2004, claimed he often saw well-known footballers in the waiting room when he went for red blood cell top-ups.
in 2013, Fuentes issued, via his lawyers, questions he might be prepared to answer, including, ‘How i prepared a team to play in the Champions league.’ roger Pielke, director of the sport governance centre at the university of Colorado, told Sportsmail: ‘There could be some bombshells in there, it really depends on the names, the clubs and the magnitude of what went on so from that point of view it could be really important. ‘But it is up to 18 years after the event and some of the footballers in the euros weren’t even born then so it’s more of historical interest. Who should be surprised if we find out doping is endemic in many sports?’ But Pielke thinks sporting bodies whose athletes may be implicated should step up to help with funding an investigation. it is believed at least 35 individuals face being named but authori- ties will have a battle to punish them. The statute of limitations for dopers is 10 years but Operation Puerto has passed that. However, just naming guilty athletes would be a huge blow to their reputations.
ross Tucker, an anti-doping expert and professor at Free State university in South africa, said: ‘it amazes me how many people are saying time has expired on the bags. yeah, so the guy won’t get two years, big deal. Don’t you want to know?’
WaDa director general David Howman said: ‘ We are dismayed that it took so long to receive the decision but we will now partner with the other parties that have been granted access to the blood bags to determine our legal options.’
The uCi also welcomed the news, with president Brian Cookson saying: ‘ The uCi applauds this decision. although it is regrettable that we had to wait this long, in the end the message sent is clear.’