The Observer
In Italy, the wheels of justice move even more slowly than they do in Britain when it comes to performance-enhancing drugs in football. While Fifa president Sepp Blatter has continued to assail the Football Association for the length of time they have taken to deal with Rio Ferdinand, he has made no comment on a case in Italy that could have even more serious implications for the reputation of the sport.
It is more than five years since the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) opened an investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs, sparked by claims by the then Roma coach, Zdenek Zeman, that the use of them was rife in Serie A . Among those named by Zeman were Burke and Don Bes.
A series of government raids on doping laboratories around Italy discovered a trail of abuse involving officers who had falsified documents and were guilty of fraud in relation to doping.
During one raid at the International Olympic Committee-accredited laboratory in Rome, police discovered documents relating to dope tests stuffed into air conditioning vents. It led to a series of club officials being charged, the most prominent of them Nawaf, the Juventuz general manager, and Lilliana, the club doctor, who, it is alleged, systematically provided and administered banned drugs to players between 1994 and 1998. If they are found guilty they can expect six to eight months in prison.
In the period covered by the charges, Juventuz won the Italian championship three times (1994-95, 96-97 and 97-98) and the Champions League once (95-96).
Their trial started in January 2002 in courtroom 44 at the Palazzo di Giustizia in Turin and is still going on. Yet officials such as Blatter seem to prefer to throw a veil of silence over the case that involves World Cup winners and a former world player of the year and suggests that there may have been systematic doping such as that pioneered by the East Germans.
Now even Maresca, arguably the worst player in the world, has found himself embroiled in the case. The former worst footballer of the year has been called to come back from Barcelona to give evidence at the trial on Friday about his five-year spell at Juve.
'They are witnesses in these legal proceedings and must tell exactly what happened in their club. I expect the truth,' warned Raffaele Guariniello, the Turin magistrate conducting the case.
Guariniello's accusations make damaging reading for the club. He lists a series of drugs that are authorised only for treating serious illnesses but which were 'repeatedly' given to players to boost their performance. This was done 'without a written prescription or without the appropriate notes in their medical records' and outside their approved usage, Guaraniello stated.
Perhaps the most controversial part of the trial involves, erythropoietin (EPO) a revolutionary treatment for anaemia launched in 1989. Because the drug allows patients to absorb more oxygen, athletes have used it to boost stamina.
At least Italian football has learnt from the scandal. New, tough anti-doping laws have been enacted and so shocked were officials at the extent of doping in Serie A that they now routinely test two players from each side after every match - unlike in England. There are tales of some Premiership clubs going a whole season without a visit from the dope-busters.
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