Del Piero questioned in doping probe
Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 12:50 PM
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Del Piero says his only concern right now is his injury Clive Brunskill/Allsport |
TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Alessandro Del Piero, the ailing star
forward of league champion Juventus of Turin, was questioned
Wednesday for the second time by the prosecutor investigating the
use of performance-enhancing substances in Italian soccer.
Del Piero, who's nursing a knee injury which is likely to
sideline him through the end of the current Serie A season, was
tightlipped as he left the office of Turin prosecutor Raffaele
Guariniello following a two-hour meeting.
"I'm only worried about my injury," Del Piero told reporters.
It was the second time in five months Del Piero was questioned
by Guariniello.
Guariniello and other Italian prosecutors have been
investigating uncontrolled use of pharmaceuticals in the Italian
Serie A and other divisions since last August. Nobody has been
charged in the case so far.
Guariniello's investigation was sparked by claims of AS Roma's
Czech coach Zdenek Zeman that there was little control in the way
Italian professional players were using pharmaceuticals.
Del Piero and other present and past players of Turin powerhouse
Juventus had been named by Zeman among those who had evidenced a
sudden muscular growth.
Those questioned by the Turin prosecutor so far included Inter's
Brazilian star Ronaldo, French World Champions Zinedine Zidane and
Didier Deschamps, both of Juventus, and soccer administrator and
former star player Michel Platini.
Platini, a former Juventus player and head of the 1998 World Cup
organizing committee, said after meeting Guariniello on Monday that
"soccer can not clean itself by its own ... the state must be the
one to punish those who use drugs."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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