Zinedine Zidane testified that he needed to take vitamins intravenously to get through 70 games a year with Juventus. Shaun Botterill /Allsport

A few columns ago, I wrote about Adrian Mutu's positive cocaine test and how recreational drug use should not be punished in the same way as the taking of performance-enhancing drugs. Reactions were mixed: some supportive shouts and some who accused me of being the devil incarnate.

The recent verdict in Juventus' trial for "sporting fraud" neatly highlights the difference between the two and how bizarre it is that Mutu -- who did not cheat -- received a hefty sentence, whereas the Italian club, whose actions were much more disturbing, is likely to get off unscathed.

The court in Turin which heard Juve's case sentenced club doctor Riccardo Agricola to 22 months in prison, while his boss, Juventus chief executive Antonio Giraudo, was acquitted. That's the first and most obvious inconsistency. Unless you believe that the team doctor was acting on his own, paying for the 281 different drugs found at Juve's training out of his own pocket and doing it all unbeknownst to club officials, it's hard to justify the verdict. Indeed, it does seem as if he was the fall guy in this case.

The case related to events at Juventus between 1994 and 1998, a period during which the club won three Italian titles, a Champions' League crown, an Italian Cup and a European SuperCup. According to testimony, Juve's doctors regularly prescribed pharmaceutical cocktails to their players which, as one witness said, meant that "either the players were always sick or they took drugs without justification ... to improve performance."

This is where things get sticky. The vast majority of the drugs in question were not on anyone's list of banned substances. They were, however, prescription drugs which were meant to treat illnesses or pathologies, not substances to be taken by healthy athletes. And here we get into an issue of medical ethics. Many athletes have taken similar substances to treat legitimate illnesses or conditions. Where do you draw the line? Should it be down to a doctor's conscience whether these drugs ought to be prescribed? Or should athletes be denied access to certain substances unless some kind of independent arbitrator can confirm that they are indeed necessary?

And how do you determine if treatment is necessary? One of the drugs liberally administered at Juventus during those years is normally used to treat depression. It would be common sense to assume that depression wasn't a team-wide problem. But how can anyone be sure? Should clubs subject their players to psychiatric evaluations in order to access the anti-psychotic drugs?

The point here is that it seems pretty obvious that Juventus violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. The only evidence that some sporting regulations may have been broken as well lies in the fact that internal drug tests revealed that some players had unnaturally high cell readings, suggesting that they may have been given the now notorious banned drug erythropoietin (EPO). But no EPO was found on Juve's premises and not a single Juventus player failed a drug test between 1994 and 1998.

Deciding what should happen next is far from easy. Louis van Gaal, whose Ajax side lost the '96 Champions' League final to Juve, insists that the bianconeri should be stripped of the trophy. Gianfranco Zola, whose Parma side finished runners-up to Juve in '94-95 is equally angry.

"It's a disgrace," he said. "At Parma we all worked so hard and we did it legally. When you compete and lose to players who use drugs to cheat, well, it hurts. A lot."

Juventus, most likely, won't be stripped of any trophies. Nor will '98 World Cup winner France, two of whose keys players, Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps were at Juve at the time. The verdict could yet be overturned on appeal and, in any case, it's likely to exceed the statute of limitations.

But the damage that Juventus has done to the game and to its own image won't be going away any time soon, even if, on appeal, the court finds that no laws were broken. The shadow of suspicion will tarnish that era in Juve's otherwise glorious history for a long time to come.

Extra time

Argentine starlet Carlos Tevez is on the verge of joining Brazil's Corinthians for $20 million. Until recently, a guy like him would have been certain to join a big European club, but times have changed. Corinthians' mysterious investors, MSI, look determined to build a side which can compete on equal footing with the best Europe has to offer. Interesting times ahead.... I know refs are to be respected, but the pedantry of some officials knows no bounds. Take Spanish ref Antonio Rubinos Perez, who sent off Real Sociedad's Valery Karpin while he was being substituted. Karpin's crime? He ironically applauded the opposing fans who had been abusing him for most of the game... Embattled Inter coach Roberto Mancini lives to fight another day, after seeing his side claw back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Juventus. Mancini's attacking philosophy -- he finished the game with four strikers -- has caused his team to drop points, but at least Inter are trying to find a new way to play after the nightmarish Hector Cuper years ... Early indications are that Milan's Andriy Shevchenko has won the popularity contest known as the European Footballer of the Year, or Ballon d'Or, award. A worthy winner perhaps, but Ronaldinho and Deco certainly had a strong case as well... Arsenal's slide continues prompting the question of just how under-appreciated the currently injured Brazilian ball-winning duo of Edu and Gilberto Silva really are.