Davids Under Suspicion In Serie A Drugs Sensation
Saturday 21st April 2001
The Italian doping scandal took a dramatic twist on Saturday night when it emerged that a Juventus star - believed to be either Edgar Davids or Paolo Montero - has become the eighth player to fail a drugs test.
The substance detected by the Italian Olympic Committee laboratory is believed to be nandrolone. The positive result was recorded after a random test following Juve's match against Udinese on March 4.
The two players tested after that game were Uruguayan defender Montero and Davids - but onefootball.com has learnt that the Dutch midfielder is under greater suspicion.
The revelation comes on the day that Lazio defender Fernando Couto tested positive a second time for the banned anabolic steroids norandrosterone and noretiocolanolone.
Couto was found "not negative" in a random test following Lazio's 4-1 win over Fiorentina on January 28, and a second test taken from the same sample has confirmed traces of the banned drugs. The Portuguese star could be banned for between six months and two years.
On Friday, Bari goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet tested positive for nandrolone a second time.
The Juventus player involved is the eighth player in Italy's top two divisions to fail a doping test. As with the Couto case, a second test will be carried out by another laboratory before any punishment is served.
This is not the first time Juventus have been involved in a drugs scandal. Two years ago, then Roma coach Zdenek Zeman accused the Turin club of doping, claiming Alessandro Del Piero had been given banned substances to build up his physique.
