Tipped off’ athletes, non-sanctioned doping cases Spain's sabotage of the fight against doping
For decades, Spain has been criticised for its half-hearted anti-doping efforts. The Olympic Games in Paris has revealed the full extent of the failure
If there were countries that benefited from the French-style Opening Ceremony at the Paris Olympics, Spain was certainly one of them. As the teams motored down the River Seine by boat, they were unusually far away from the reach of television cameras. Few, amongst the hustle and bustle, could see exactly who was celebrating on the water.
If the event had taken place in its more usual setting, with a march into a stadium, Spain would have run the risk of being posed concerning questions by reporters: Will Spain’s Chef de Mission at the past nine Olympics - Cayetano Cornet, a former national record-breaking runner - be walking unashamedly, amongst the Spanish delegation, into the Olympic arena?
"Growth hormone, Testosterone, Anabolics“
Cornet’s role in Paris has been a sensitive issue since the ARD Doping Department recently broadcast undercover recordings of a conversation between reporters and Spain's most infamous doping doctor - Eufemiano Fuentes. Dr. Fuentes, the man who helped Germany's former Tour de France star Jan Ullrich undergo banned blood transfusions, said on camera that he had provided Cornet with everything that could help guarantee sporting glory - "growth hormone, testosterone, anabolic steroids".
Cornet still chose to travel to Paris, apparently unimpressed by the revelations, but hardly anyone could be certain it was him on deck at the opening ceremony. Spain’s decision to travel with Cornet to Paris, in a senior leadership role, aptly characterises the country's relationship with anti-doping in recent decades.
This is exemplified by the role of Dr. Fuentes in Spanish sport, who claimed in the documentary "Doping Secret: Dirty Games" that he had medically prepared Spanish athletes, on behalf of the state, for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Nonetheless all proceedings against him have always ended without a conviction. The identity of his most famous clients still remains a secret.
Fuentes: Different blood doping
In the undercover footage, Fuentes boasted that he is still up to date on contemporary blood doping methods: "I don't do it anymore, but I know others that do it. They no longer infuse a whole bag of blood, because that would show up in your blood profile. They only use half a bag. Or they even divide it into thirds. Instead of the full amount of 500 millilitres, 150 millilitres are administered on the first day, 150 millilitres again five days later, and another 150 millilitres after ten days. So, it's a progressive increase. That way the values don't change!"
The ARD asked Cornet, the accused Spanish Chef de Mission in Paris, for an interview but he said he was too busy during the Olympics. The ARD Doping Department now has further evidence of serious anti-doping irregularities in Spain. Spanish athletes are said to have been warned, in advance, about supposed ‘unannounced’ doping controls, and in an anonymous survey of Spanish athletes, almost 10 percent admitted to doping. Spain's anti-doping agency (CELAD) has also failed to sanction athletes that have been suspected of doping via the Athlete Biological Passport.
CELAD's breaches
The criticism of CELAD’s director Jose Luis Terreros by the Spanish media in January, forced the senior official to resign. Several examples of delayed, or leniently handled, doping cases led to Terreros’ dismissal. WADA, the global anti-doping watchdog, has known for several years that anti-doping in Spain has been increasingly problematic.
In November 2019, WADA audited CELAD and identified several points of concern. The most serious of these, as concluded in the final report, read as follows: "The review team finds that the following athlete biological passports have produced atypical results, but have not yet been subjected to any procedure in accordance with Code Article 7.5: BPG2101N37, ВРР301U8, ВР33AJP4."
Open questions
Why at least some of the cases were not prosecuted is unclear. "WADA has appealed a number of Spanish ABP cases to CAS, which are currently still pending. WADA has also transferred the outcome management of a number of other Spanish ABP cases to the relevant international federations. These cases are also still pending," the World Anti-Doping Agency said in response to a request from ARD.
"In addition, WADA's independent investigations department opened an investigation into alleged misconduct in Spanish sport a few months ago."
Protecting fraudsters
For years, the structural deficiencies in Spain's anti-doping campaign have been denounced by the lawyer Alberto Yelmo. He was previously a member of CELAD's external legal counsel. "The president of the High Council for Sport is also the president of the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency," says Yelmo, "which creates a clear conflict of interest. Because it is difficult to win medals and improve performance while at the same time fighting doping."
In addition, Yelmo's research uncovered that almost half a dozen cases of possible blood doping had likely not been prosecuted by CELAD. One record-breaking athlete involved even benefited from state funding after his abnormal blood values were detected, says Yelmo . "I think CELAD has become a shady organisation. No transparency," complains Yelmo, "there was more interest in fighting the fight against doping than in fighting doping itself.
Athletes warned about testing The ARD Doping Department has received information from several independent sources, close to Spanish sports circles, that suggests that athletes may have been warned by CELAD about upcoming doping controls – even shortly before the Olympics. It appears that WADA is playing an inglorious role in the ongoing Spanish affair. Firstly, it seems that the agency did not exert sufficient pressure on CELAD in relation to the unpunished blood passport cases from 2019.
Secondly, WADA chose not to ruthlessly pursue proven dopers in Operation Puerto, the 2006 blood doping scandal involving Dr. Fuentes. The minutes from previous WADA board meetings reveal that the agency’s Director General Olivier Niggli was hesitant to publish the names of Fuentes’ doping clients.
"Great risk of liability"
"How could WADA potentially justify publishing the names," Niggli is quoted as saying in a meeting in May 2017, "and thus actually damaging the reputation of the athletes after the statute of limitations has set in." According to the board minutes, WADA had access to 116 blood bags and 27 corresponding DNA samples belonging to Fuentes’ clients.
Niggli, however, was apparently more concerned with protecting the fraudsters, and by financial liability. Niggli warned of the "costs involved" and "the great risk of liability" if the names of the dopers were publicly disclosed by WADA after the statute of limitations had expired.