Judge set to drop Spanish cycling doping probe, say reports

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Mar 10, 2007, 11:59 GMT

Madrid - A judge investigating a cycling doping ring in Spain is expected to drop the case, media reports said Saturday. According to Spanish press reports, the investigation known as Operation Puerto will not be pursued because of a lack of evidence that any offences had been committed under Spanish law. The judge, Antonio Serrano, said although there had been doping practices there was insufficient evidence to prosecute for the offence of endangering public health, according to extracts of a leaked report. Doping itself was not punishable under Spanish law when the charges were brought in May last year, the judge has reported. 'This case took place because of a lack of fair play to say the least,' Serrano's report is quoted as saying. 'However, in contrast to the law in France and Italy, there was no law that penalised doping practices under Spanish legislation at the time this case was begun.' According to the reports, the decision will be made official on Monday. The investigation was launched after raids in Spain in May last year in which police seized bags of frozen blood bags, evidence of forbidden blood transfusions and a wide range of doping substances ranging from the blood doping drug EPO to steroids. More than 50 professional cyclists were implicated in the investigation, including former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and Giro d'Italia victor Ivan Basso. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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