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Gotti's trial Italian faces possible two-year ban
Posted: Tuesday February 08, 2000 03:25 PM
ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Ivan Gotti, twice winner of the Giro d'Italia, faces a maximum two-year ban after the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) charged him with doping Tuesday. But Gotti's Polti team said the cyclist had never failed a dope test and his participation in the Tour de France, Olympics and Giro, where he defends his title, was not at risk. "For three years, he has been subject to random tests and there has never been anything abnormal," spokeswoman Luciana Rota told Reuters by telephone. "His participation [in major events] is not at risk." CONI, which oversees sport in Italy, said it had referred Gotti to the Italian and Monaco cycling federations after its anti-doping commission alleged "use of substances belonging to prohibited categories and blood doping." The Professional Cyclists' League said the charges related to three years -- 1996, 1997 and 1998. In the first year, Gotti raced with an Italian license but the two subsequent years he had a Monaco license because he is resident in the principality. It was not immediately clear whether one federation would have sole jurisdiction over the case or whether both federations would rule. That could also delay a ruling, the league said. The dope charges carry a maximum penalty of a two-year ban. "I have talked to Gotti's lawyers and they say that once a cyclist is deferred to the federation, it usually takes a week to 10 days for a ruling. In this case it could take two to three weeks," Rota said. She said a ruling could be delayed by the fact that cyclists Alessandro Bertolini, Gianluca Bortolami, Gianni Faresin and Giorgio Furlan had also been referred to the federation on doping charges. Bertolini, Bortolami and Faresin faced blood doping charges while Furlan was referred over use of banned substances and blood doping. Rota noted that if Gotti's hematocrit level had breached the maximum 50 percent limit authorized by the International Cycling Union (UCI), Gotti would automatically have been suspended for 15 days -- something she said had never happened. A hematocrit reading gives the proportion of red blood cells to the total level of blood. High readings may indicate the banned performance-enhancing substance erythropoietin. Gotti was one of a group of top cyclists including Laurent Jalabert of France who threatened to quit last year's Giro if CONI continued to spring doping checks. Ironically, he won the race for the second time in three years after the shock elimination of Italian hero Marco Pantani for failing a blood test.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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