Eufemiano Fuentes, who is facing trial over alleged doping activity in cycling in 2006, has claimed he has also treated footballers.
Fuentes is facing evidence and questions in court this month over a police investigation that uncovered alleged doping activity in professional cycling.
During his trial alongside four others for ‘crime against public health’, as doping was not illegal in Spain in 2006, Fuentes spoke to reporters and indicated that his work spanned across to the world of football too.
“In 2006 I worked with sportsmen of all kinds, footballers, cyclists and athletes. At that time I was not working for a cycling team, but advising individual athletes, an athlete, a footballer, a boxer…” he stated to journalists today.
Fuentes reportedly built up a catalogue of hundreds of bags of blood belonging to various sportspeople.
“If the athlete had particularly viscous [thick] blood, we would draw some out to avoid any danger. And it would be frozen.
“If the athlete then had a low red blood cell count or became anaemic, we would return it. A few extractions were made in local hotels, because the athlete requested privacy from others in the laboratory.
“Every athlete paid an amount depending on the period.”
Spanish authorities reportedly have surveillance tapes of a number of athletes entering hotels for this alleged treatment.
