Topic: News: The Greek Doping Scandal

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Greek weightlifters to testify in May on doping charges

Athens - A group of 11 Greek weightlifters who tested positive for banned substances have asked a public prosecutor to be given until early next month to testify on doping charges. The coach of the 11 weightlifters from the Greek national team, Christos Iacovou, was suspended after news broke that almost the entire men's and women's national teams had failed tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on March 7.

The athletes' coach blamed the test results on a faulty batch of dietary supplements by Chinese drugmaker, Auspure Biotechnology.

The Beijing News newspaper reported on Wednesday that the Chinese company which supplied the illegal substances was not an authorized company.

The lawyer of 10 of the athletes of the Greek national team said they support Iacovou. One athlete, Vassiliki Kasapi, however, took legal action against the Weightlifting Federation on Wednesday saying she was unknowingly being placed at risk by taking the drugs.

"It is unheard of that Kasapi would risk her life by taking the drugs," said Alexis Kougias, Kasapi's lawyer outside of Athens Court House.

The team coach, physiotherapists, doctors as well as the pharmacist of the National Team will testify before a public prosecutor on Thursday.

Health Ministry inspectors have searched a warehouse in central Greece which is used to store dietary supplements and conducted raids at three more locations, including the training facilities of the Greek weightlifting team and a pharmacy as part of the judicial investigation into the doping scandal.

The scandal has thrown the Greek weightlifting team's preparations for the upcoming Beijing Olympics into turmoil.

Reports said the athletes told the investigative committee, set up by the Greek Weightlifting Federation, that they took vitamin supplements and were not aware that they may have contained banned substances.

The results of the second tests on the sample taken from the weightlifters are due to be known this week.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) could ban the Greek team for up to two years but said on its website that "as long as the cases are in process, the IWF shall have no further comments."

Greek media reports said the initial tests found that the drug was trenbolone acetate, a steroid normally used by veterinarians on livestock to increase muscle growth and appetite.

Iacovou, 60, is one of Greece's most respected coaches, whose team has won five Olympic gold medals along with five silver and two bronze since the 1992 games in Barcelona.

Under IWF anti-doping rules, entire teams can be suspended from international competitions for up to two years if three or more athletes fail doping tests within one year.

The IWF has spoken out such bans before, but then changed them into fines. Iran, Russia, Argentina and Kazakhstan for instance were allowed to compete at the 2006 worlds after paying a 50,000-dollar (32,000 euros) fine for each caught athlete (in Iran's case 450,000 dollars for nine positive tests).

Weightlifting has been plagued by doping over the years, with 42 athletes suspended in 2007 alone, according to the IWF website.

Greece was also involved, with Leonidas Sampanis losing his Olympic 63kg category bronze 2004 in Athens after over a positive test.

[AlekoKouva]

after further investigations with greek and chineses officials it has been confirmed that there was a mistake in the order for the vitamins...IWF or Wada not sure cuz my dad explained it to me...now says that they were tested for 1 substance not 3...they have yet to name the substance........greek news.

[Walter Bailey]

after further investigations with greek and chineses officials it has been confirmed that there was a mistake in the order for the vitamins...IWF or Wada not sure cuz my dad explained it to me...now says that they were tested for 1 substance not 3...they have yet to name the substance........greek news.

I understand that they want to use the argument that their Chinese supplier screwed up.  That, however, is not a valid excuse, that's just like saying "I didn't know."  Ignorance is not a valid excuse.  Besides, why would they be ordering their substances from China anyways.  Anybody who is involved in this sport (or any sport) knows that they have to be very very careful with anything they put into their bodies.  I have a hard time believing that they were simply dumb enough to order their products from China (especially a team that has their own Pharmacologist!), I wouldn't trust anything from that country (except my cheap Wal-mart clothes, but even they probably have some lead hidden in them).

[AlekoKouva]

lol yeah I agree with that...but why is the IWF changing thier story.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlsyrV3aGVA

[Matt Erdman]

Reducing athletes incentives is sure working well in the US. The only thing we get busted for is weed.

This may be the "end" for Greek weightlifting.

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Greece toughen doping law following weightlifting scandal

ATHENS, Greece: Greece on Tuesday promised tougher penalties against doping, amid a drug scandal that is likely to exclude the national weightlifting team from the Beijing Olympics.

Michalis Liapis, the minister for culture and sport, said a legal amendment would make the use of banned substances by athletes in competitive sport a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

The law is also set to bolster powers at the domestic anti-doping agency, ESKAN, and revise state benefits for Olympic medal winners.

Ministry officials said the reforms would take effect after the Aug. 8-24 Olympics.

Eleven members of Greece's national weightlifting team tested positive for banned substances on March 7. The results — still pending confirmation — were announced on April 4.

The changes are based on a report issued Tuesday by an expert committee created in the wake of the doping scandal. The committee also proposed scaling back lavish state benefits — including jobs and business licenses — awarded to top Greek athletes, as well as punishing sporting federations with frequent doping violations.

Felony charges would also be introduced against coaches whose athletes test positive for doping and against those who distribute banned substances.

"The measures are both preventive and punitive. Personally, I prefer to focus on the preventive measures," Liapis said. "Doping is a national issue. ... Doping offenders will not allowed to pay a fine instead of serving their sentence."

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Judicial official: Tests confirm Greek weightlifters' doping

ATHENS, Greece: The backup doping samples of 11 Greek weightlifters also tested positive for a banned steroid, making it unlikely Greece will send a weightlifting team to the Beijing Olympics.

Laboratory results in Cologne, Germany, confirmed the results of tests first announced on April 4, which showed the presence of methyltrienolone, a senior Greek judicial official told The Associated Press on Friday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Officials at Greece's Weightlifting Federation said they had not received any official notification of the "B" test results and declined to make any further comment.

Greece's Olympic weightlifting coach Christos Iakovou was suspended after the doping allegations were first announced. At the time, Greek sports minister Yiannis Ioannidis said that the weightlifters' participation at the Beijing Olympics was "unlikely."

Iakovou blamed the positive tests on a faulty batch of diet supplements sent from Auspure Biotechnology, based in Shanghai, China. Iakovou's lawyer also released an e-mail from the company apologizing for making a mistake.

Iakovou, 60, is one of Greece's most successful coaches, with his lifters winning 12 Olympic medals, five gold, since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

The out-of-competition tests were conducted in Athens on March 7. The names of the male and female athletes — 11 of the national team's 14 members — have not been announced pending the outcome of the judicial inquiry or possible sanctions against them by sporting authorities.

Ten of the athletes accused of doping have backed Iakovou, but one female weightlifter has threatened to take legal action against anyone found responsible for giving her steroids, allegedly without her knowledge.

On Friday, her lawyer said he had submitted a medical report into evidence, as part of the ongoing preliminary investigation into the doping allegations.

"This (report) brings a new criminal development to the case," lawyer Alexis Kouyias said. "Athletes who win under the influence of chemicals only score a hollow victory because a few years later, their actions will lead them to the hospital or to the morgue."