Cannavaro doping doctors in court

November 26, 2009

Two Juventus club doctors who gave a banned drug to Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro after he was stung by a wasp are facing a three-month suspension from football.

That is the recommendation put forward by Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) prosecutors on Thursday for Bartolomeo Goitre and Luca Stefanini.

Cannavaro failed a dope test in late August after taking a medicine that contained the banned substance cortisone, given to him by his club’s doctors, after he was stung by a wasp.

The former World Player of the Year then requested a doping exemption on the grounds that it was emergency medication but his request was missing a document and while awaiting a decision he was subjected to an anti-doping test, which returned a positive result.

Coni then announced in mid-October that it was dismissing the case against him, after which Cannavaro launched a furious tirade at the press for their coverage of the incident.

“I have a clean conscience. Someone gets stung by a bee and then he finds themselves in the newspapers as if he had doped,” he said at the time.

“When that happened I thought I was dreaming. Some newspapers and television stations went too far.”

ROME (AFP)

Tags: anti doping test, Bartolomeo, captain Fabio Cannavaro, coni, conscience, cortisone, doctors, dope test, emergency medication, fabio cannavaro, goitre, Italian, italian olympic committee, Italy, juventus club, late august, medication, newspapers, prosecutors, ROME, television stations, tirade, wasp, world player of the year

Cannavaro fails dope test, claims it´s medicine

October 9, 2009

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has failed a dope test after taking a medicine that contained the banned substance cortisone, it was revealed on Thursday.

The former World Player of the Year was allegedly stung by a wasp and took a medicine that contained cortisone on August 29.

He requested an exemption on the grounds of having taken a medication in the case of an emergency but his request was missing a document and while awaiting a decision he was subjected to an anti-doping test, which returned a positive result.

Sources close to his club Juventus have claimed he took nothing more than an anti-allergy medicine.

The Italian Football Federation (Figc) claimed they were immediately made aware of the situation as Juventus had sent a copy of the exemption request to their doctor just before Cannavaro joined up with the national team ahead of matches against Georgia and Bulgaria on September 5 and 9.

Cannavaro is currently on international duty once again, preparing for Italy’s last two World Cup qualifiers against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday and then at home to Cyprus on Wednesday.

Cannavaro is suspended for the Ireland match but was expected to return to the team he captained to World Cup glory in 2006 for the Cyprus game.

He is due to be interviewed by the Italian Olympic Committee’s (Coni) anti-doping prosecutor Etorre Torri on Friday morning in Turin.

Coni released a statement on its website explaining the circumstances of the positive test without revealing if any action has been taken against the player.

ROME (AFP)

Tags: allergy medicine, anti doping test, bulgaria, captain Fabio Cannavaro, coni, cortisone, Cyprus, dope test, dublin, exemption request, fabio cannavaro, FIGC, friday morning, Georgia, Ireland, italian football federation, italian olympic committee, Italy, prosecutor, ROME, torri, turin, wasp, world cup glory, world cup qualifiers, world player of the year

Palermo´s Carrozzieri tests positive for cocaine

April 24, 2009

ROME (AFP) – Palermo defender Moris Carrozzieri has tested positive for cocaine following a Serie A match against Torino on April 5, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced on Thursday.

The 28-year-old is a first team regular at Palermo who currently lie seventh in the Italian top flight.

“This news has surprised us,” the club said in a statement. “We repeat our total committment in the battle against the use of illegal substances which damage the health of people and in particular the young,” club president Maurizio Zamparini told news agency Ansa.

“We have been informed by the CONI and we are stunned to learn that these young people who regularly go to nightclubs can carry out such imbecilic behaviour.

“They are not gaining anything on a sporting level and by contrast are destroying themselves”.

“If it is true, he has taken cocaine, he must admit it. It is important above all to think about one’s health, but it is pathetic that people can fall into these traps,” he added.

“History has proven that these tests are rarely wrong”.

The central defender has previously had spells at Atalanta and Sampdoria and began his career at Bari in 1999.