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Dec.12 - Dec.19, 2004 |
Juventus Doctor Agricola Found Guilty
Serie A team's executive chief Antonio Giraudo cleared on all doping charges
By Mehrdad Masoudi
Originally Published: 2004-12-05
Juventus doctor Riccardo Agricola has been found guilty of administering the banned drug EPO to the club's players during the 1990s. Agricola was given a 22-month prison sentence by a Turin judge last Friday after a trial investigating doping at Italy's most successful soccer club.
Club chief executive Antonio Giraudo was found not guilty. Agricola was also ordered to pay a 2,000 euro fine after being found guilty of the formal charge of 'sporting fraud.'
Defense lawyer Paolo Trofino told reporters the judge had found Agricola guilty of administering the blood-booster EPO.
"He was condemned for what was the weak point of the prosecution's charges, the administration of EPO," said Trofino. "It is a sentence that will be difficult to get through appeal," he said, confirming the defense intended to appeal.
The trial looked at Juve's medical practices between 1994 and 1998, a period when they won three Italian titles and also the 1996 European Cup.
The Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) said they would wait for the publication of the judge's full verdict before taking any possible steps.
European soccer's governing body UEFA said that they had been informed of the verdict by the FIGC and "were staying put but would follow matters through the FIGC."
It is unlikely that Agricola will have to serve time in prison because first offences are often suspended in Italy.
Giraudo told reporters the verdict meant the club had been cleared. "It is a very important sentence. I was absolved in my role of chief executive and so Juventus was absolved. That means innocence."
Turin public prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello began investigating allegations against 27-times Italian champions Juventus in 1998.
"This is what I expected," Guariniello said after the verdict. "It is only the first step."
EPO is a synthetic hormone that stimulates the body's production of red blood cells, increasing oxygen transport and endurance. It has been widely used in cycling.
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