Davids Faces Probe After Failed Drugs Test
Monday 23rd April 2001
Juventus have received a letter from the Italian Olympic Committee informing them that Edgar Davids has failed a doping test. Onefootball.com revealed on Saturday that the Dutch midfielder was under suspicion.
In a statement posted on their website, Juventus said Davids had tested "non-negative" after the Udinese-Juventus match on March 4.
In a further twist, the public prosecutor in Turin, Raffaele Guariniello, will investigate the affair and extend his probe to other Juventus players.
The committee earlier said a Serie A player had tested non-negative but would not give his name, team or the substance involved until a second test had been carried out.
Juventus said it would hold a news conference in Turin on Tuesday at 1200 to discuss the matter.
A non-negative first result means a player must go through a second test. A spokesman for the committee said no date had yet been set for the B test.
"It depends on the programme of work of the laboratories," he said, adding that a meeting would take place on Friday of all organisations involved in Italian football to discuss growing concern over drugs.
On Saturday, a B test on Lazio's Portuguese defender Fernando Couto came out non-negative as it included levels of the banned substance nandrolone.
Earlier this season, two Perugia players were banned for doping offences. Couto will almost certainly face a disciplinary hearing of the Italian football federation and could face a lengthy ban from the game.
