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Judge Orders Blood Bags Destroyed in Doping Case Judge Orders Blood Bags Destroyed in Doping Case
(about 5 hours later)
A Spanish judge ordered the destruction Tuesday of the 200-plus blood bags seized in a raid of a major European doping ring that catered to elite athletes, thwarting an effort to uncover possibly one of the biggest doping scandals in history. A Spanish judge ordered on Tuesday the destruction of more than 200 blood bags seized in a raid of a major European doping ring that catered to elite athletes, thwarting an effort to uncover possibly one of the biggest doping scandals in history.
Judge Julia Patricia Santamaria ruled in Spanish court that the bags of blood, plasma and red blood cells, as well as the documentation regarding those blood bags, gathered in a 2006 raid of the office of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes could not be released to antidoping authorities because of Spain’s privacy laws. Antidoping agencies and sports federations, including the World Anti-Doping Agency and Spain’s new antidoping agency, had requested the blood bags so they could try to identify which athletes had been Fuentes’s clients and pursue doping cases involving them. Though only cyclists have been identified as working with Fuentes, he testified at his two-month trial that his patients also included athletes in tennis, soccer, boxing and track and field. Judge Julia Patricia Santamaria ruled in Spanish court that the bags of blood, plasma and red blood cells, as well as accompanying evidence, gathered in a 2006 raid of the office of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes could not be released to antidoping authorities because of Spain’s privacy laws. Antidoping agencies and sports federations, including the World Anti-Doping Agency and Spain’s antidoping agency, wanted the blood bags so they could try to identify athletes who had been Fuentes’s clients and pursue doping cases against them. Only cyclists have been identified as working with Fuentes in the doping case called Operation Puerto. But Fuentes testified that his clients also included athletes in tennis, soccer, boxing and track and field.
Fuentes was convicted Tuesday of endangering public health for his role in doping athletes by helping them transfuse their own blood, giving them steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. He was given a one-year suspended sentence, a four-year ban from practicing medicine and fined $6,000. He was not charged with a doping offense by Spanish law enforcement because in 2006, when his office was raided, doping was not illegal in Spain. A strict antidoping law is currently being pushed through Spanish parliament, partly to help Madrid’s bid for the 2020 Olympics. Dick Pound, the former chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency who was in charge of the agency when the Fuentes investigation began seven years ago, said the judge’s decision to keep the evidence from antidoping authorities “seriously undermines the credibility of sport.” He added that Spain risks becoming a haven for dopers unless it takes a harder line regarding athletes who use drugs to cheat.
The decision to withhold the blood bags from antidoping authorities further perpetuates Spain’s reputation as being soft on doping. For years, doping has been a crime in countries like France and Italy, where cycling is one of the top sports, but Spain has lagged behind in instituting those laws. “This performance with the Fuentes case is typical of what we’ve seen with Spain,” he said. “For years, we’ve asked them for the evidence, but there was no cooperation at all from them. The courts were almost vigorous in making sure that none of the information saw the light of day.”
When dealing with the 2010 doping case of the Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, the Spanish cycling federation cleared him of all charges after public support grew for Contador, one of the country’s sporting heroes. Several high-profile politicians, including Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, publicly pressured the cycling federation to drop the doping charges against Contador, even though he had tested positive for the banned drug Clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour. “There’s no legal reason to justify sanctioning Contador,” Zapatero said on the Spanish government’s Twitter page. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later upheld a two-year ban against Contador. Fuentes was convicted Tuesday of endangering public health for his role in doping athletes by helping them transfuse their own blood and supplying them with performance-enhancing drugs. He was given a one-year suspended sentence and a four-year ban from practicing medicine and fined $6,000. He was not charged with breaking doping laws because, at the outset of the case, doping was not illegal in Spain. A strict antidoping law is currently being pushed through Spanish parliament, partly to help Madrid’s bid for the 2020 Olympics. Pound said the Fuentes verdict could very well hurt Madrid’s effort.
In the doping case of Alejandro Valverde, one of Spain’s other top cyclists, the Italian Olympic committee had to take that matter into its own hands after Spain did nothing to punish the athlete for taking part in Fuentes’s blood doping program. Italian antidoping authorities matched Valverde’s DNA with the DNA inside one of the blood bags seized from Fuentes’s medical office, then barred him from completion for two years because of it. Ana Munoz, the head of Spain’s antidoping agency, said the agency was likely to appeal the judge’s decision to withhold the evidence. In a news conference after the verdict, she said the judge’s ruling was “clearly unsatisfactory.”
Throughout the past seven years of the case, Fuentes has said that he never endangered the health of his clients, and that the blood transfusions he gave them helped them with anemia and did not provide any boost in performance. “It isn’t over yet,” she said.
Several of the best cyclists in recent history, including the Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton, the former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and the Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso, have been implicated in the Fuentes doping ring, which was given the code name Operation Puerto by Spanish law enforcement. The decision to withhold the blood bags from antidoping authorities further perpetuates Spain’s reputation as being soft on doping. For years, doping has been a crime in countries like France and Italy, but Spain has lagged behind in instituting those laws.
On one day of the trial, Fuentes told reporters that the team Real Madrid owed him money, but would not say whether that debt stemmed from treating Madrid players with performance-enhancing drugs or transfusions. He later said that he never gave Madrid players any drugs. The club said the debt was for Fuentes testifying on its behalf in another trial. Prosecutors also questioned Fuentes about the letters “RSoc” on some paperwork it had confiscated from him, hinting that those letters stood for the soccer team Real Sociedad, the Basque soccer club. Fuentes said he did not know what those letters meant, and later told reporters that those letters sounded like the name of a good wine. When dealing with the 2010 doping case of the Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, the Spanish cycling federation cleared him of all charges after public support grew for Contador, one of the country’s sporting heroes. Several high-profile politicians, including Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, publicly pressured the cycling federation to drop the doping charges against Contador, even though he had tested positive for the banned drug clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour. “There’s no legal reason to justify sanctioning Contador,” Zapatero said on the Spanish government’s Twitter page. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later upheld a two-year ban against Contador.
In the doping case of Alejandro Valverde, one of Spain’s other top cyclists, the Italian Olympic committee had to take that matter into its own hands after Spain did nothing to punish the athlete for taking part in Fuentes’s blood doping program. Italian antidoping authorities matched Valverde’s DNA with the DNA inside one of the blood bags seized from Fuentes’s medical office, then barred him from competition for two years because of it.
Throughout the case, Fuentes has said that he never endangered the health of his clients and that the blood transfusions he gave them helped them with anemia and did not provide any boost in performance.
Several of the best cyclists in recent history, including the Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton, the former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and the Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso, have been implicated in the Fuentes doping ring. The names of any noncyclists who were clients of Fuentes were never revealed, but during the trial there were hints.
On one day of the trial, Fuentes told reporters that the team Real Madrid owed him money, but would not say whether that debt stemmed from treating Madrid players with performance-enhancing drugs or transfusions. He later said that he never gave Madrid players any drugs. The club said the debt was for Fuentes testifying on its behalf in another trial. Prosecutors also questioned Fuentes about the letters “RSoc” on some paperwork it had confiscated from him, suggesting that those letters possibly stood for the soccer team Real Sociedad, the Basque soccer club. Fuentes said he did not know what those letters meant, and he later told reporters that those letters sounded like the name of a good wine.
Only one of Fuentes’s colleagues, Ignacio Labarta, a former trainer for the cycling team Kelme, was convicted with him Tuesday. Labarta was handed a suspended four-month sentence for his involvement in doping athletes. Three others charged in the case — Yolanda Fuentes, who is Fuentes’s sister; the former Liberty Seguros cycling team manager Manolo Saiz; and the former Kelme cycling team director Vicente Belda — were acquitted.Only one of Fuentes’s colleagues, Ignacio Labarta, a former trainer for the cycling team Kelme, was convicted with him Tuesday. Labarta was handed a suspended four-month sentence for his involvement in doping athletes. Three others charged in the case — Yolanda Fuentes, who is Fuentes’s sister; the former Liberty Seguros cycling team manager Manolo Saiz; and the former Kelme cycling team director Vicente Belda — were acquitted.
The seizure of those blood bags in 2006 prompted several Tour favorites, including Ullrich and Basso, to be barred from the 2006 Tour in what then was the most serious and sprawling doping scandal in cycling since 1998, when the nine-man Festina team was kicked out of the race after performance-enhancing drugs were found in the car of a team trainer. The police in France conducted drug raids at that race, causing riders to protest.
Testimony in the Operation Puerto case lasted about two months, ending in early April. Hamilton, who also was a key witness in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s doping case against Lance Armstrong that led to Armstrong’s receiving a lifetime ban from Olympic sports, testified against Fuentes in February.Testimony in the Operation Puerto case lasted about two months, ending in early April. Hamilton, who also was a key witness in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s doping case against Lance Armstrong that led to Armstrong’s receiving a lifetime ban from Olympic sports, testified against Fuentes in February.
Hamilton claimed that he began to see Fuentes in 2002 when he raced for the team CSC. He said that Bjarne Riis, the team director of CSC, had introduced him to the doctor, and that the doctor had given him the endurance-boosting drug EPO, testosterone and growth hormone. He also testified that Fuentes had helped him with blood transfusions about 15 times, including once during the 2004 Tour. After receiving that transfusion in 2004, Hamilton said he felt ill and his urine had turned black. He said one of Fuentes’s helpers, Alberto Leon, at least once reinfused him with blood, although Leon had no medical training. Leon committed suicide in 2011. Hamilton claimed that he began to see Fuentes in 2002 when he raced for the team CSC. He said that Bjarne Riis, the team director of CSC, had introduced him to the doctor, and that the doctor had given him the endurance-boosting drug EPO, testosterone and growth hormone. He also testified that Fuentes had helped him with blood transfusions about 15 times, including once during the 2004 Tour. After receiving that transfusion in 2004, Hamilton said he felt ill and his urine had turned black. He said one of Fuentes’s helpers, Alberto León, at least once reinfused him with blood, although León had no medical training. León committed suicide in 2011.
One Spanish rider, Jesus Manzano, claimed that Fuentes had given him EPO, cortisone, steroids, Actovegin, which is an extract of calves’ blood, and Oxyglobin, a veterinary medicine used to treat anemia in dogs. He said riders would head out on their bikes and jokingly bark or moo, depending on what drugs they were taking. One Spanish rider, Jesús Manzano, claimed that Fuentes had given him EPO, cortisone, steroids, Actovegin, which is an extract of calves’ blood, and Oxyglobin, a veterinary medicine used to treat anemia in dogs. He said riders treated by Fuentes would head out on their bikes and jokingly bark or moo, depending on what drugs they were taking. On Tuesday, the judge denied Manzano’s request for $200,000 in damages from Fuentes for putting his health at risk.
“It is shameful, I sincerely don’t know why they bother charging a person in order to deliver a verdict like that,” he told Reuters Television. “You don’t have to be a judge to deliver a sentence like that. A builder could it.”
Fuentes and Labarta have 10 days to appeal their sentences. The blood bags seized in the case will remain in storage until the case is completed.Fuentes and Labarta have 10 days to appeal their sentences. The blood bags seized in the case will remain in storage until the case is completed.