Juve faces EPO probe
Former Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli testifies at the doping trial in Turin last December
A judge in the Juventus drug trial ruled that club officials will also have to defend themselves against the administration of the blood-boosting hormone EPO to players, news agencies reported.
EPO was not included on the list of substances in the initial charges against Juventus chairman Antonio Giraudo and team doctor Riccardo Agricola, who are accused of giving players banned substances in the 1990s.
On Monday, Judge Giuseppe Casalbore rejected club lawyer Luigi Chiappero's request to avoid the addition of a new charge, which was presented in a surprise move by prosecutors in the last hearing in the case.
"It's a change that completely alters the meaning of the charges," Chiappero was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency in making the request. "You can't do that now."
The judge also rejected Chiappero's request for Juventus players Antonio Conte and Alessio Tacchinardi, along with ex-medical staff member Fabrizio Tencone, to be heard before the court, to testify that they were not given any illicit blood transfusions.
"It's really a curious trial, after so many years the prosecutors twist the charges," Chiappero added after his request was rejected. "We respect the decision, naturally, but the fact remains that the question that we raised also served to signal the weakness of the accusation."
Agricola has told the court that all the drugs were administered for players' health, not to illicitly improve their performances.
Monday's hearing in the case was the first after a summer break.
In January, former Juventus player and 2003 FIFA player of the year Zinedine Zidane told court officials that he took creatine, a permitted nutritional supplement, while with Juventus. Club captain Alessandro Del Piero told the court last year that team doctors had never given him illegal substances.
Casalbore is expected to issue a ruling in the case by the end of the year, six years after then-AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman's allegations led to the judicial inquiries.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct 7.
Former Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli testifies at the doping trial in Turin last December
A judge in the Juventus drug trial ruled that club officials will also have to defend themselves against the administration of the blood-boosting hormone EPO to players, news agencies reported.
EPO was not included on the list of substances in the initial charges against Juventus chairman Antonio Giraudo and team doctor Riccardo Agricola, who are accused of giving players banned substances in the 1990s.
On Monday, Judge Giuseppe Casalbore rejected club lawyer Luigi Chiappero's request to avoid the addition of a new charge, which was presented in a surprise move by prosecutors in the last hearing in the case.
"It's a change that completely alters the meaning of the charges," Chiappero was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency in making the request. "You can't do that now."
The judge also rejected Chiappero's request for Juventus players Antonio Conte and Alessio Tacchinardi, along with ex-medical staff member Fabrizio Tencone, to be heard before the court, to testify that they were not given any illicit blood transfusions.
"It's really a curious trial, after so many years the prosecutors twist the charges," Chiappero added after his request was rejected. "We respect the decision, naturally, but the fact remains that the question that we raised also served to signal the weakness of the accusation."
Agricola has told the court that all the drugs were administered for players' health, not to illicitly improve their performances.
Monday's hearing in the case was the first after a summer break.
In January, former Juventus player and 2003 FIFA player of the year Zinedine Zidane told court officials that he took creatine, a permitted nutritional supplement, while with Juventus. Club captain Alessandro Del Piero told the court last year that team doctors had never given him illegal substances.
Casalbore is expected to issue a ruling in the case by the end of the year, six years after then-AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman's allegations led to the judicial inquiries.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct 7.
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