Ezequiel Mosquera and Xacobeo-Galicia team-mate David Garcia have tested positive for hydroxyethyl starch, the blood booster, in urine samples during the Vuelta a Espana.

The announcement was made by the world cycling’s governing body.

From Espnstar.com:

Two more Spanish cyclists have failed drugs tests, world cycling’s governing body has announced.

Ezequiel Mosquera and Xacobeo-Galicia team-mate David Garcia tested positive for the blood booster hydroxyethyl starch in urine samples during the Vuelta a Espana.

The news comes after it was confirmed traces of clenbuterol had been found in samples taken from Tour de France champion Alberto Contador.

The Spanish cyclists can make a request for testing of their B samples to confirm the result.

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Rafael Palmeiro is sticking to his story that he did nothing wrong when he tested positive for an anabolic steroid five years ago.

The disgraced baseball slugger continues to maintain that he took a tainted shot of vitamin B12.

From Dallasnews.com:

Palmeiro played his final major league game Aug. 30, 2005. He finished his 20-year career with 569 home runs and 3,020 hits, numbers similar to those of Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Eddie Murray.

Will the voters from Baseball Writers Association of America remember those statistics when they receive the ballots in late November? Or will they give more significance to Aug. 1, 2005, the day Dallasnews.com suspended Palmeiro for 10 games after he tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid?

“I’d hope voters would look at my body of work over my career and maybe put more emphasis on that,” Palmeiro said. “That one steroid incident is unfortunately all people remember. They don’t remember the other 19 years that I played the game the right way.”

We have already seen the impact the implication of steroids has had on Mark McGwire, who received only 23.7 percent of the Hall of Fame votes last year, his fourth year on the ballot. Players need 75 percent of the vote to be inducted.

The former Ranger had a word about his test during a rare interview recently while he watched his son play for the McKinney Marshals in a Texas Collegiate League game.

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Mohammad Asif, the fast bowler from Pakistan, has blamed his positive test in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on eye drops prescribed for an inflammatory condition.

London-based medical expert Michael Graham told Times Now, “Asif has pleaded to using Keratyl eye drops for a medical eye condition. He had an inflammatory eye condition which was impeding his cricket.”

From Espnstar.com:

He added: “He could not see very well with his left eye and as a consequence of that he required specialised ophthalmic opinion in Pakistan and he had that treatment.

“And, as was known to Asif, it (Keratyl) contained a prohibited substance nandrolone.

“Sadly this showed up in his urine.”

The 26-year-old was banned from all forms of cricket by the Pakistan Cricket Board immediately after the adverse test was made public in July.

Asif had requested for his ‘B’ sample to be tested which also returned a positive result for the drug.

He then appeared before the tribunal on October 11, but the adjudicating members adjourned that meeting without deciding on a verdict and scheduled a second meeting for November 29.

The bowler was summoned before a drugs panel for making use of the banned substance nandrolone during the inaugural edition of the IPL; Asif remarked that he had used eye drops that raised the levels of nandrolone in his system.

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Hein Verbruggen, the president of cycling’s governing body, has accused WADA of being “unprofessional” in leaking a confidential report on the Tour de France and has claimed the agency has a hidden agenda.

Verbruggen, who is also a leading member of the IOC, told the Guardian, “The report was leaked purposely.”

From Guardian.co.uk:

The International Cycling Union said yesterday that officials from WADA will no longer be able to attend cycle races as observers. Verbruggen claimed that the leak is linked to a dispute between the agency and the ICU over the use of corticosteroids by athletes with a doctor’s prescription. “The leak happened exactly the day before WADA’s executive meeting is to pronounce on the list of banned substances,” said a statement.

The issue came to a head last July in the Tour de France when the race leader, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, tested positive for the asthma drug salbutamol. WADA said he would be positive under their rules but the ICU cleared him.

“The report was leaked to L’Equipe and today there is discussion about the list [of substances],” said Verbruggen. “It has been used to influence the situation; I have to come to that conclusion.”

Verbruggen also said, “I do not say WADA are always unprofessional but this shows an unprofessional attitude.”

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Riccardo Ricco, the cyclist from Italy, has made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to reduce his two-year ban.

Italian authorities handed down the penalty on Ricco and he was banned from the sport by the Anti-doping Tribunal of the National Olympic Committee of Italy (CONI) on October 2 after testing positive for CERA, a third generation version of banned substance EPO.

From Espnstar.com:

The 25-year-old, after initially denying the allegations, eventually pleaded guilty and named the doctor who had given him the substance, as well as another rider, in an effort to get a reduced punishment.

A decision on Ricco’s appeal will likely be reached within four months.

A statement released today by CAS read: “The CONI Anti-doping Tribunal has imposed a suspension of two years on Ricco after a positive doping test with EPO, performed during the Tour de France 2008.

“The athlete requests the reduction of the suspension on the basis of his collaboration with the authorities in this matter.

“The directions with respect to the arbitration procedure will be issued later on by the Tribunal in accordance with the Code of Sports-related Arbitration.

“As a general rule, CAS delivers its decisions within four months from the filing of the appeal.”

Ricco won two stages on the Tour – the second with a spectacular finish on one of the toughest mountain climbs.

If the appeal fails, the former Saunier Duval rider will not be able to race again before July 30, 2010.

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Linford Christie, the Olympic gold medalist, will be addressing a committee of MPs which is looking into performance enhancing drugs.

Two academics, Roger Maughan, of the University of Loughborough, and Julian Savulescu, of Oxford, will also be addressing the committee.

From Guardian.co.uk:

MPs say the inquiry focuses on the opportunities and problems presented by the increasing availability of technologies capable of enhancing sporting performance, including use of performance enhancing drugs, gene doping and technological devices.

The inquiry will be launched next month with a seminar, which will be addressed by Mr Christie, 100m gold medallist in 1992 who later tested positive for nandrolone and was banned for two years.

He is now a coach who runs his own consultancy and marketing agency, which has declined to comment on his appearance at the Commons.

“They wanted him to be the person who did it [the address]. I don’t think he has much to say about it in advance,” said a spokeswoman.

The Commons science and technology committee is undertaking an inquiry into human enhancement technologies in sport in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

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The French police have been able to dismantle a French doping ring that indulged in making illegal supplies of anabolic steroids to bodybuilders and other clients throughout the country, according to office of the Marseille prosecutor.

Three people in the southern French port city were held on preliminary charges for their suspected role in running the operation ring in France.

From Winnipegfreepress.com:

Prosecutors say police have dismantled a French doping ring that illegally supplied anabolic steroids to bodybuilders and other clients throughout the country.

The Marseille prosecutor’s office said Saturday three people in the southern French port city have been handed preliminary charges for their suspected role in running the ring’s French operations. Officials say they are suspected of bringing in more than €1,000 ($1,300) a day.

The preliminary charges are for trafficking hazardous substances and doping products. Two of the three have been jailed.

The French operations are believed to be part of a larger international network. The French suspects are accused of selling steroids over the Internet in France, targeting bodybuilders.

The drug supply racket was involved in the sale and distribution of steroids over the Internet in France.

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A Compton man has agreed to plead guilty to possession and distribution of illegal steroids over the internet, according to an agreement announced by the Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

An international trafficking investigation in 2007 rounded up around 1,200 people, including Warren Abramson.

From Scpr.org:

An international trafficking investigation in 2007 rounded up more than 120 people, including Warren Abramson. Prosecutors charged him with intending to sell about 200 gallons of anabolic steroids – a controlled substance that mimics the male hormone testosterone. Athletes often use the steroids to help them build up muscle, but the substance carries a risk of causing serious mental and physical health problems. The volume on hand amounted to more than a quarter-million doses. In a plea agreement, prosecutors also said Abramson kept four firearms, three silencers and more than 4,500 rounds of ammunition at the Compton address he used as his lab. Abramson has agreed to plead guilty on five drug and weapons-related counts.

The court hasn’t scheduled his plea hearing; he faces as many as 55 years in federal prison and one-and-a-quarter-million dollars in fines. Most of the other suspects arrested in the investigation have pleaded guilty. Law enforcement agencies from Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Sweden, China and four other countries participated in the investigation.

Abramson was charged with intent to sell approximately 200 gallons of anabolic steroids.

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