After a ten year wrangle, the blood bags used in the Operacion Puerto case in Spain are finally going to be handed over to the relevant authorities for further investigation.
Operacion Puerto is the name given by the Spanish police to the doping network involving more than 50 cyclists, orchestrated by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. The case stretches as far back as 2006, when a police raid upon the clinic of Dr. Fuentes yielded 211 coded blood bags. Among the cyclists suspended in the aftermath of the raid were former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and Spanish Vuelta champion Alejandro Valverde.
In January 2013, Fuentes went on trial, where he revealed that he treated a number of athletes from different sports, including football. Fuentes said during the trial that he could name each of his clients, only for Judge Julia Santamaria to tell Fuentes that he was under no obligations to name any athletes other than the cyclists implicated in the original raid. Fuentes was found guilty of endangering public health in April 2013, and handed a one-year prison sentence. This was later overturned on appeal.
It was feared that the full disclosure of Fuentes' list of clients would never be achieved, as the judge ruled that the blood bags be destroyed, rather than have them handed over to the World Anti-Doping Agency. WADA lodged an appeal against the decision, and today that appeal has been upheld.
The blood bags will now be handed over to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the UCI and the Italian Olympic Committee.
There may be some big revelations to come.
[BBC]
