Five players, including starting goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, have been suspended by Mexico for testing positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol.

In addition to Ochoa, defenders Edgar Duenas and Francisco Rodriguez and midfielders Christian Bermudez and Antonio Naelson “Sinha” were also suspended.

From Articles.latimes.com:

Clenbuterol, known as “clen,” can be helpful in treating asthma but is commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders to promote fat loss. It is the same drug that produced Tour de France champion Alberto Contador’s positive test last year.

The U.S. anti-doping agency said clenbuterol has also been used to promote growth in livestock, including cattle, lamb, poultry and swine, although such use is illegal in the U.S. and Europe and the risk of a positive drug test from ingesting meat contaminated by clenbuterol is small.

But in April, Germany’s anti-doping agency NADA warned athletes about eating products from Mexico because it could lead to involuntary positive doping results.

Mexico took issue with the Germans’ finding then but now FEMEXFUT is using it as part of its defense against the doping charges.

“Everything points to it being an accident, very unfortunate,” said Decio De Maria, general secretary of the Mexican federation (FEMEXFUT).

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The ODI opener for Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga, will face an official ICC panel of inquiry to present his side of the story after testing positive for banned drugs, according to informed sources.

The ICC inquiry will be held in Dubai on or about June 24.

From Sundaytimes.lk:

Sri Lanka Cricket which was keeping mum on the issue last week broke its silence and issued a statement saying, “The ICC, has informed Sri Lanka Cricket that Upul Tharanga has been tested positive for the presence of a prohibited substance during a testing of a urine sample collected from him after the semi final match against New Zealand on March 29, 2011and a disciplinary charge has been initiated.

“Since there is an ongoing inquiry to verify this charge, Tharanga will not be making himself available for selection until the conclusion of the inquiry and therefore will not be available for the ODI and T20 matches in England and the Sri Lanka “A” Team tour of England.”

Last week, following the Sunday Times revelation Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage admitted to the BBC’s Sinhala Service Sandeshaya that Tharanga was under medication from Eliyantha White, an alternate medical practitioner whose clientele is said to include President Mahinda Rajapaksa and sportspersons here and abroad.

“Tharanga has written us and said he would not be available for selection to play any type of cricket till the present inquiries are over,” Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee Secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said.

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Mark N. Benevento, 50, and his son, Mark J. Benevento, 18, were arrested, after officers executed search warrants at Wood’s Dog House, 467 Bloomfield Ave. in Verona and at a Stevens Avenue apartment in Cedar Grove.

The two men from Cedar Grove were arrested after a two-month multijurisdictional investigation.

From Northjersey.com:

The elder Benevento was charged with possession and sale of oxycodone, possession of suboxone, possession of anabolic steroids, possession of amphetamine and possession of hypodermic needles. He was released on $75,000 bond pending an appearance in superior court in Newark on June 1.

The younger Benevento was charged with possession and sale of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia consisting of a scale and packaging material, police said. He was released pending a June 1 arraignment in Newark.

The drugs seized from the defendants had an aggregate street value of $3,800, police said.

In addition to the drugs, police also seized $1,000 cash and a 2006 Chevy Impala that was used as part of the distribution operation, police said.

Police said drugs were being sold from both locations.

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John H. Cassidy, II, a 26-year-old Phillipsburg man, has been arrested for the possession of anabolic steroids.

Cassidy was arrested by Washington Township Police and was driving through Washington Township on May 28 and carrying anabolic steroids and four illegal weapons in his car, Washington Township Police Lt. Mark Niemynski said.

From Longvalley.patch.com:

Officer John Lee stopped John H. Cassidy, II, 26, as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign, Niemynski said. Lee then noticed the steroids in pill form in the car, which lead to a search of the vehicle, Niemynski said.

Lee found three daggers and a lead-filled billy club inside the car, all of which are considered illegal weapons, Niemynski said.

The accused was arrested and charged with possession of anabolic steroids and illegal weapons.

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Permission has been sought from all schools in South Africa by the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport to test school children as often as possible for illegal performance enhancing drugs.

The permission request was made after the revelation of a huge increase in schoolboy rugby players using illegal anabolic steroids.

From iol.co.za:

Tests conducted by Joburg company Drug Detection International on pupils at 18 of the country’s top schools found 21 out of 130 pupils – almost one in six – tested positive for illegal steroids.

Commissioned independently by various schools, Drug Detection International sent urine samples for analysis to a forensic laboratory in the US.

They found positive results for two pupils of St Albans, Pretoria; three pupils of King Edward VII in Joburg; and found that one boy from St John’s in Joburg had twice the amount of testosterone levels for a teenager his age.

Fifteen of the other pupils who tested positive were from private schools in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. At least 12 were caught with banned steroids in their possession.

Director of the SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport Dr Shuaib Manjra said, “We need a legislative framework or, alternatively, a consensus policy for all schools to abide by. Once we have jurisdiction, then we require resources to introduce these programmes into schools, this would include education, testing and prosecution. We also require parental consent.”

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A father, detective by profession, and his son have been charged with supplying anabolic steroids.

Dad and son DC Paul David Fletcher, 46, and Paul Michael Fletcher, 26, made an appearance at the magistrates’ court alongside co-defendant and St Helens policeman Sgt Paul Hornby, 42.

From Osadvertiser.co.uk:

St Helens CID officer Fletcher Snr, of Downall Green Road, Ashton, was charged with eight counts of conspiring with his son to supply the class C drugs in Wigan between October 1 last year and March 24.

He was also charged with misconduct in a public office after it was alleged that he explained police tactics and procedure about telephone evidence to a known criminal, arrested on January 25.

Fletcher Snr is also said to have accessed sensitive information on police files and leaked it to a known criminal in St Helens on February 1.

His son Fletcher Jnr, of Richmond Hill, Wigan, was charged with eight counts of supplying steroids during the same period in Wigan.

The pair were represented by different legal teams.

Their co-defendant, Hornby, of Bembridge Court, Wigan, was charged with four counts of conspiring to supply anabolic steroids.

A preliminary hearing to ascertain the likelihood of a trial was set for May 12 at 9.45am.

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English textbooks and new science labs for students in Texas would be on the block, according to the plan of the Texas Education Agency budget reduction requested by Governor Rick Perry and other leaders.

The plan will also mean reducing funding for a steroid testing program for high school athletes.

From Dallasnews.com:

By far, the biggest reduction - $48 million - would be for textbooks that were supposed to be purchased beginning with the 2011-12 school year. Those are primarily English books for grades 2 through 12 and books for limited-English students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Other books are for spelling, handwriting and supplemental materials for middle school and high school science classes, including biology. Students in the science classes were supposed to get the supplemental materials to reflect new curriculum standards even as they continue to use their older textbooks.

“Anytime we have to cut the state budget, textbooks are a target,” said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the TEA, who pointed out that without the materials, students will not have direct access to new curriculum standards in several subjects.

Several proposed textbook purchases have been delayed in recent years to cope with drops in state revenue. That means students have to continue using old and often outdated textbooks for longer than intended.

The proposed cutbacks total approximately $262 million for the 2012-13 budget.

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