OPERACION PUERTO AND FOOTBALL?

[Dameerto]

Imagine how good Messi would be with three feet.

[Arjan Van Schotte]

the cycling governing body UCI chose not to see the widespread doping for years, to protect their on reputation (or finances....). I don't think there's any evidence of widespread doping in football, as there was in cycling.

what i have found slightly hilarious is the testing itself. i remember a rugby league player getting a ban for cannabis, and there are currently 4 uk sportsmen serving a ban for weed, including an ice hockey player, and a basketball player serving a 2 year ban!

I'm not sure that weed will enhance your performance at any sport? lolz

Perhaps darts if you use it very moderately. It takes the edge off.

if darts is a sport, then so is snooker. and "going to the shops and not forgetting anything".

and weed wouldn't help that either.

[john68]

I nearly posted something about this the other day when Guardiola moved to Bayern - Guardiola himself failed two tests for Nadralone while in Italy as a player.
The Fuentes connection is supposed to link a lot of Spanish sports people to doping with allegations that Barca are involved, as well as Nadal, but the decision was made to limit the investigation to cycling.

What I find shameful about this particular case is the judge's ruling that though the court has in its possession a long list of names and codenames aimed to hide the identity of ALL those involved,whatever their sport. The case will be limited to only those involved in cycling. Those involved in other sports (football/tennis?) will not considered and their names will not be released publicly.

That is despite Dr Fuentes already stating as part of his evidence on day 1 that he treated people from other sports.

[ant london]

Interesting you post this John as I've just read two books. The most relevant in terms of illumination is Tyler Hamilton's book "the secret race".

Hamilton was a client of Efuentes and it is a fantastic read and it had me thinking "this cannot just have been cycling". Spain in particular (and Italy) were both countries which we essentially dope havens with lax legislation, non-existent criminalisation and relatively little control over availability of the drugs in question.

If UEFA had the slightest inclination to investigate properly I'm sure they could have a field day with the likes of Madrid, Barcelona, Juve and Milan....I think we all know they will do nothing of the sort though

[john68]

Cheers for that Ant.
Just been having a further dig around the court rulings on this case and it becomes even funnier/tragic. Not sure if I want cry for the cause of justice or laugh my bollox off at the sheer farce.

All we need is Sid James and Barbara Windsor and we could call it "CARRY IN DOPING".

Dr Fuentes offered to name every name on his list, saying he could remember every codename.
WADA (the World Doping Agency) must have thought "Whoop de fuclin doo". Christmas has arrived.....until....
Until the judge ruled that he could NOT name any names nor identify anybody because the case was NOT about blood doping but the much lesser charge of "Endangering Public Health.".....

All Fuentes and his co defendents have to do is show that they did nothing to endanger public health and they walk free. Despite all the evidence, blood bags. equipment.....and the identities of his clients will NOT be disclosed.

A final note that maybe doesn't surprise me is that despite the loud noise made by Sepp Blatter demanding to view the evidence from the investigation, he has never applied for any of the documents....NOWT...except silence.

There just has to be more of this comedy.

[dazby]

I really wish a journo would pick up on this story.

[Im_Spartacus]

The Spanish government have suppressed the evidence found in the doctors computers relating to the people NOT specifically involved in this trial, and the first action of the trial judge was to rule it was not in the public interest to allow this evidence to see the light of day

It fucking stinks - the expectation is that this information was the names of the Spanish football team, tennis players etc, but for now it ha been supressed by the government in Spain

If the govt are fighting to suppress this, you gotta know its damaging if it comes out.

[john68]

I really wish a journo would pick up on this story.

I fairness Mate, there are some great journos like "DECLAN HILL" (football) and "PAUL KIMMAGE" (cycling) to name only two. There are others too, all trying to dig around and publicise match fixing, drug and doping abuse etc. Hill's work had major implications in Brazilian football and we all know the outcome of some of Kimmage's work in outing Lance Armstrong (he wasn't alone in that effort).

The big problem is VESTED INTEREST.
In the current Operacion Puerto, we see the Spanish judiciary, possibly under orders from the Spanish Govt, actually suppressing the release of evidence into the public domain.
Cycling's governing body (the UCI) stand accused of being complicit in the Lance Armstrong issue, to protect their product.
The real reason that the Premier League went global and brings in such huge amounts of income for all and sundry is underpinned by the billions spent on marketing by the TV companies worldwide. Why the heck would they want to damage a product that produces so much profit for them.

The info is out there, not hard to find but not in the mainstream media that most of us rely on.

[john68]

Dazzler,

How about this as great example of my post above from the current court case in Spain.
The case has the potential to name and shame possibly 100s of dopers, drug takers, doctors and administrators across cycling, football, tennis and boxing...possibly other sports. A chance to take out a whole tier of cheaters in global sport.

That has been supressed by the judge. The latest legal argument and issue being discussed is whether the fridges used to transport the blood and EPO across the globe had the correct temperature control equipment and sufficient back up equipment in the case of failure.

[john68]

I really wish a journo would pick up on this story.

Just a bit more on this Dazzler, This evening, I managed to have quite a long conversation with nationally known journalist & broadcaster, who was helpful.
He told me that almost all the mainstream stories were just rehashes of what they picked up from the news wires. Premium journalism (as he called it) was rare because it meant an editor giving a journo time to go and dig out the story, to research, find the right people to interview etc. Sadly, he said that editors just didn't allow journos that freedom on enough occasions.
His suggestion was to text particular shows, asking/requesting/demanding that certain stories or issues could be covered in more depth in the hope that an editor might pick up on it and act. A bit hit and miss, but shows the state of British journalism.

[john68]

I have not had to really do any digging whatsoever to find the following stuff.....

Fuentes has already stated that only a third of his customers were cyclists and openly admits to working with footballers. Apparently he had previously stated that if he revealed everything he knew, then Spain would be stripped of their 1020 FiFA World cup title.
According to one witness, he was believed to have been working in Germany in 2006, at the time of the World Cup, working with footballers.

....This guy has been known about since 2003, One case was dropped, before the whole thing restarted again in 2006. This may be news to most of us, but the reality is most of it is old news and has been in the public domain for a long time...but...Nobody in football circles...Not FIFA, not UeFA, not the football governing bodies of any individual nation, not the mainstream media....not any fucler with any clout or power...has bothered their arse to investigate any of it.

Just how rotten to the core is this game of ours...Blood doping, Performance enhancing drugs, match fixing....what fucling next?

[Im_Spartacus]

I have not had to really do any digging whatsoever to find the following stuff.....

Fuentes has already stated that only a third of his customers were cyclists and openly admits to working with footballers. Apparently he had previously stated that if he revealed everything he knew, then Spain would be stripped of their 1020 FiFA World cup title.
According to one witness, he was believed to have been working in Germany in 2006, at the time of the World Cup, working with footballers.

....This guy has been known about since 2003, One case was dropped, before the whole thing restarted again in 2006. This may be news to most of us, but the reality is most of it is old news and has been in the public domain for a long time...but...Nobody in football circles...Not FIFA, not UeFA, not the football governing bodies of any individual nation, not the mainstream media....not any fucler with any clout or power...has bothered their arse to investigate any of it.

Just how rotten to the core is this game of ours...Blood doping, Performance enhancing drugs, match fixing....what fucling next?

Is the argument not that back then, blood doping per se wasnt an offence?

I've certainly heard that mentioned as to why he isnt being tried for that in Spain

[dazby]

Well the shit has hit the fan here with one of our AFL clubs under investigation and talk of doping and illegal gambling being widespread.

[Im_Spartacus]

Well the shit has hit the fan here with one of our AFL clubs under investigation and talk of doping and illegal gambling being widespread.

Given the proximity to the asian markets which drive the gambling, and low salary levels, it was only a matter of time surely?

Possibly the only protection we have in the premier league from gambling is the high salaries meaning ridiculous bungs would have to be paid to the players. Doesnt mean the officials are immune though, and the lower league I believe is rife with it.

[bluej]

Wide spread across multiple codes -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... port-drugs

[Original Dub]

Wide spread across multiple codes -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/fe ... port-drugs

Will you paste that please?

[Beefymcfc]

It's all over the radio as well.

Australian doping inquiry finds drugs rife in country's sport

Professional codes rocked by official findings that many athletes use illegal substances, sometimes supplied by gangs

Widespread doping and illegal drug use among Australian athletes has been alleged in a bombshell report by the country's Crime Commission (ACC).

The use of performance-enhancing drugs – in some cases facilitated by organised crime – was unearthed in a landmark, year-long investigation. In what's been described as a major blow to professional sport's integrity in Australia, the ACC found that the use of banned drugs had been "orchestrated and condoned" by coaches, sports scientists and support staff across multiple sporting codes.

The ACC found that crime groups were involved in the distribution of banned drugs including hormones and growth-hormone releasing substances called peptides.

"The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans," said Jason Clare, the national minister for home affairs and justice (video).

"It's cheating but it's worse than that. It's cheating with the help of criminals. We're talking about multiple athletes across multiple codes," he said

The ACC said crime groups had taken advantage of legal loopholes making it possible to supply substances that breach anti-doping rules. It said professional sport in Australia was "highly vulnerable" to infiltration by such groups.

"This is particularly serious. Links between organised crime and players exposes players to the risk of being co-opted for match-fixing," Clare said.

One potential case of match-fixing was identified by the ACC but it did not release details, citing legal reasons.

Clare said in some cases sports scientists had orchestrated the doping of entire teams. He said players were administered with drugs not yet approved for human use.

The Australian Sports Anti-doping Authority, Asada, has begun investigations into specific cases. When the story broke it declined to name individuals or clubs involved for legal reasons.

The former head of the Asada, Richard Ings, said it was a wake-up call for Australian sport. "This is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day in Australian sport" he told ABC TV.

"Peptides and other hormones are very serious performance-enhancing drugs and at the moment they are very difficult to detect through testing, so the only way to determine whether athletes are using them is through the coercive powers that have been employed by the Australian Crime Commission [like] witness statements, testimony, phone taps and other more traditional law enforcement approaches to identify who is doing what and when," he said.

The ACC report follows revelations on Tuesday that one of the country's top Australian rules football (AFL) clubs, Essendon, was being investigated by Asada over concerns that supplements, believed to be peptides, were given to its players in 2012.

The club admitted its players took supplements but would not say what was in them or how many players were involved. Essendon's coach, James Hird, said he believed the players were clean. ''The supplements our players were given, in my opinion and my knowledge, were all approved and within the regulations we all play the game by,'' he said.

Essendon's fitness coach, Dean Robinson, was suspended. He had previously worked at another AFL club.

Players face bans of more than two years if found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. It's thought that if the supplements were as widely used as feared at Essendon, the club may face difficulty fielding a team this season, according to some national newspaper reports.

In response to the ACC's report on doping in Australia, each of the country's major sporting codes, including soccer, rugby union and rugby league, Australian rules football and cricket have agreed to establish integrity units and to deal with doping, and have pledged to co-operate fully with Asada.

Commenting on the Australian scandal, the World Anti Doping Agency president, John Fahey, said the disgracing of Lance Armstrong had proven that a more comprehensive approach to catching sports cheats was essential. "The samples themselves are not the be all and end all as the Lance Armstrong case proved," he told the ABC.

"Lance Armstrong fooled the world for years and years and years. He had a system in place and resources to successfully lie his way through every accusation that was made against him.

"He was outed not by the samples he gave, and he gave many, but the evidence that was developed against him."

On Monday the US anti-doping agency gave Armstrong an additional two weeks to co-operate with its investigation into the use of drugs in cycling. Armstrong denied any involvement in doping before coming clean last month about taking banned drugs to help him win his seven Tour de France titles.

[john68]

Yes Mate, you are right about the status of the drugs doping laws in Spain at the time.

This is like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle. Each day new pieces just seem to fall into place.
The whole shabang seems like one great big global mess. Many countries, many sports, many crimes. What the hell are we watching?

[dazby]

The question needs to be asked. A lot of our players recently have come back early from some pretty bad injuries.

Is Manchester City Football Club clean?

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

The question needs to be asked. A lot of our players recently have come back early from some pretty bad injuries.

Is Manchester City Football Club clean?

I'll raise you: in the CL this season we have been out-worked/run on the pitch to such an extent that I actually wondered if the opposition were on something. Were they?