Valverde faces CONI hearing, court inquiry

By Agence France Presse

Anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri said Thursday that a blood sample found in the laboratory central to the Operación Puerto scandal belongs to Alejandro Valverde.

Torri made his claim following a hearing attended by the Spanish rider at the headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome. Upon Valverde’s arrival, the public prosecutor’s office in Rome announced its own investigation into his actions.

“We can say with certitude that the blood in bag number 18 belongs to Valverde,” Torri said at a press conference following the Operación Puerto-related doping hearing. “We are confident that we are qualified to deal with this case and that we also have the jurisdiction to deal with foreign athletes.”

Torri said Valverde’s case is identical to that of Ivan Basso, who was suspended for two years in 2006 after his blood was found in Fuentes’ laboratory. Basso has since returned to racing and is riding with the Liquigas squad in the Amgen Tour of California.

“We have documents referring to Valverde both for sums paid to (Dr. Eufemiano) Fuentes and for the substances,” Torri said. “However, these documents require interpretation. For now, though, we haven’t examined the possibility of a precautionary suspension for Valverde. His lawyers have two weeks to prepare the defense case.”

The summons related to a sample given by Valverde on July 21 during the 2008 Tour de France after a stage in Italy.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that DNA tests on this sample matched those of blood samples seized from the laboratory of Fuentes, the central figure in the Puerto scandal.

Valverde did not fail any dope tests during the Tour.

His hearing had been delayed twice, but on Thursday he arrived at a rear entrance surrounded by carabinieri, the federal police force, and accompanied by two lawyers, manager Antonio Sanchez and Caisse D’Epargne sports director Eusebio Unzue.

The hearing had most recently been delayed due to the objections of a Spanish court, which on Wednesday argued that the blood samples held by the Spanish justice system could not be used on another case in another country.

However, CONI’s anti-doping section called the objections groundless and insisted on interviewing Valverde, who claims to be attending as a gesture of goodwill in order to clear his name.

Valverde is also the subject of an open case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after Spanish authorities washed their hands of the Puerto affair.

Torri said that Valverde would not be summonsed again, but added that others could be.

“If one refuses to answer there’s no point in returning,” he said. “There’s another 90 bags of blood and not just those of cyclists.”

Valverde’s Italian lawyer, Federico Cecconi, said that his client had nothing to worry about.

“Alejandro Valverde says that he’s innocent,” he said.

FILED UNDER: Road