Soccer: Verdict in Juventus doping trial expected

MILAN - A Turin judge will decide on Friday whether Italy's most successful soccer club, Juventus, was guilty of administering banned drugs to its players in the 1990s.

The verdict could have huge repercussions across European football more than six years after public prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello began investigating allegations against the 27-times Italian champions.

The club's director Antonio Giraudo and doctor Antonio Agricola face charges of 'sporting fraud'.

The pair, and Juventus as a whole, deny any wrongdoing. Guariniello has demanded a jail sentences of two years and one month for Giraudo, and three years and two months for Agricola.

France's Zinedine Zidane, three times World Player of the Year, former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli, now a television presenter, and former European Footballer of the Year Roberto Baggio were among those who appeared during the Turin trial which began in September 2002.

The investigation was prompted by comments made in a 1998 magazine interview by current Lecce coach Zdenek Zeman that Italian football needed to "get out of the pharmacy". In the interview Zeman pointed the finger at Juventus.

Guariniello's investigative team looked into Juve's medical activities between 1994 and 1998 -- years in which Juventus enjoyed great success in Italy and Europe.

Juventus, with current Italy coach Marcello Lippi in charge, won the European Cup in 1996 and also claimed Italian league titles in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

If Juve is found guilty of 'sporting fraud' - cheating by the use of performance-enhancing drugs -- those honours could feasibly be stripped from them.

Rival clubs might also turn to the courts to press a claim that they were the true winners.

During the trial several former Juventus players testified about the medical treatment they received from the Turin club.

All said they had never knowingly been treated with illegal substances. The charges include the alleged "irregular use of medicines which are either banned by the IOC or subject to particular restrictions".

Zidane said that while at Juventus he took creatine, which is not on the list of International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned drugs, and said he had also taken iron and vitamins, sometimes intravenously.

Prosecution witness Gianmartino Benzi, professor of pharmacology at Pavia University, said he found 281 different kinds of drugs after being asked to examine the club's pharmacy.

"Their stocks resembled the quantity you would find in a small hospital," Benzi told the judge.

Other accusations against Juventus involved failing to communicate guidelines regarding health and safety risks at work. The players' records also lacked information on the "administration, prescription, indications, nature and length of the treatments", the prosecution said.

- REUTERS