Judge Rejects Juventus Bid To Annul Trial
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian judge has rejected a move by Serie A club Juventus to have their trial for alleged doping offences thrown out.
On the opening day of the trial of Juventus director Antonio Giraudo and club doctor Antonio Agricola, lawyers for the Turin club attempted to throw out the case, arguing that the prosecution's allegations were not in order.
But judge Giuseppe Casalbore said that the accusation was "clear and precise" and that trial should progress.
Turin magistrate Raffaele Guariniello carried out a three-year inquiry and is alleging that Juventus are guilty of "irregular use of medicines which are either banned by the International Olympic Committee or subject to particular restrictions".
The Juventus officials are accused of two specific offences. The first charge is that the use of restricted or banned medicines means they are guilty of "sporting fraud" -- of altering the outcome of competitions due to the use of substances.
The pair also face charges that as employers they risked the health of their players with the policy.
Giraudo and Agricola are considered responsible by the prosecution for Juve's policy. They deny all the charges.
DRUGS RIFE
Guariniello began his probe in August 1998 after claims made by former AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman that drug use was rife within Italian soccer.
The magistrate has interviewed a number of players and officials at Juventus and other clubs.
In early 1999 Guariniello interviewed a host of top Serie A players including Rui Costa, Alessandro Nesta, Lilian Thuram and Roberto Baggio.
Evidence gained by Guariniello from Serie A players could be used as part of the trial but prosecution and defence agreed on Thursday that the players would not be asked to testify personally at the court.
In June of 1999 Guariniello handed in a 'black list' to Italian Olympic Committee president Gianni Petruzzi which was reported to include the names of 60 to 200 players from Serie A, B and C.
Italian football has been rocked by a series of doping cases with Lazio defender Jaap Stam and Brescia midfielder Josep Guardiola the latest to be punished following positive tests for the banned steroid nandrolone.
