Largely missed by the mainstream media, last night saw what is arguably the climax to the ongoing drama that has been Operacion Puerto, the Spanish investigation into the doping activities of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Fuentes is most infamous for conducting a business which supplied doping products and services to a large number of athletes.
Raids on properties used by Fuentes uncovered a virtual production line of performance-enhancing drugs and stored blood of his customers.
A point occasionally missed in public discussion is that sports doping is not illegal in most countries and where it is, the crime is often linked to the supply and trafficking, rather than use of prescribed substances. Fuentes himself was charged not with doping athletes, but with endangering public health.
Public interest in doping is typically focussed on the former, reflecting our fascination with sports and sportspeople. But it was the steady stream of athletes’ deaths, such as linked to the dangerous use of the red blood cell-boosting drug EPO, and other harmful side effects to their health which caught the attention of the Spanish Guardia Civil.
For many, the most shocking news that came from the verdict on the Fuentes trial was not the finding of his guilt, but the judge’s order that the impressive haul of blood bags seized as evidence against Fuentes be destroyed.
To date, only a handful of cyclists have been sanctioned as a result of evidence uncovered by Operacion Puerto. Somewhat farcically, one of the most high-profile cases was that of Alejandro Valverde, who was caught in 2009 not by the Spanish authorities, but the Italians who managed to obtain samples of his blood through application to the Spanish courts.
In total, 99 of Fuentes’ blood bags were seized, along with a load of banned substances including steroids, growth hormones and EPO. The most sensational element of this case is the persistent rumours and evidence that Fuentes’ clients extended much further than professional cyclists.
Fuentes himself has openly offered to reveal his list of clients, telling the judge “I could identify all the samples [of blood]. If you give me a list I could tell you who corresponds to each code on the [blood] packs.”
He has previously offered a none-too-subtle hint: “If I would talk, the Spanish football team would be stripped of the 2010 World Cup.”
In the fight against drugs in sport, Fuentes has practically pleaded with the Spanish authorities that he would be willing to take a fall. The response: not interested.
Not only have authorities steadfastly refused to take Fuentes up on his offer to drop the names of what would appear to be a large number of doped athletes on their lap, but now they have ordered the destruction of key evidence against those dopers.
If you’re getting the feeling they’re not taking that fight too seriously, I wouldn’t blame you. But what possible reasons could there be for hushing up one of the larger doping scandals in sports history, certainly in Spain?
It’s not hard to speculate – Spain’s ascendancy in world sports over the past decade has been might impressive. Football, tennis, cycling… the list is long.
It would be irresponsible to assume all of those performances were associated with doping, but it’s hard not to gain the impression that the truth is a lot uglier than has been publicly revealed to date.
Neither is it the case Fuentes’ clients were exclusively Spanish. Cyclists already sanctioned in connection with his services held a range of nationalities.
But the conclusion from all of this seems abundantly clear – the biggest challenge in the fight against doping in sports is not testing and not cheating athletes – but merely the basic desire to prevent it.
It is clear that for all the rhetoric, there remain people in positions of power who would prefer doping to stay the way it long has been – out of mind and out of sight.
Another important question: is it just the Spanish who feel this way?
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