Man Utd legend Gary Neville suspects Italian clubs he faced in the 2000s of doping.
Neville played against Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, AS Roma and Lazio while playing for Manchester United under former manager Alex Ferguson. Based on his own observations, he has hinted that some of these clubs have allowed players to dope. Neville's views are supported by former teammate Roy Keane.
Neville (right) and Keane when they were playing for Man Utd. Photo: AFP
Speaking on Stick To Football , comparing football to other sports that are often plagued by doping, such as cycling, Neville said: "I still remember some of the memories. I think there were some teams we played against that weren't clean. At the time, we thought so. Me and Ryan Giggs in the mid-2000s or 1990s talked about it."
Neville said doping was a sensitive subject during his playing days. Therefore, although he suspected his opponents, he could not clearly see the problem. It was only later, when doping scandals in many sports broke out, that the issue of using banned substances in sports was brought up for discussion and tightened.
"When I played against some Italian clubs, I thought: 'Something's not right'. I apologise for having doubts like that. But I know a few other players in the 2000s who thought the same thing," Neville said.
Agreeing with Neville, former midfielder Roy Keane said: "When I played against some teams, I just wanted to walk away, and you looked absolutely broken. I remember looking at the players I played against, they played for some Italian teams, and thinking they weren't playing a football match. But we're not going to single out a few clubs or a few names."
Commenting on the subject, Daily Mail writer Riath Al-Samarrai said that football, like other sports, has cheating. But he said that positive doping tests in football are not stigmatized and punished as much as in other sports.
As evidence for this, Al-Samarrai cited the case of Man City coach Pep Guardiola. The former Spanish midfielder tested positive for banned substances twice in 2001, while playing in Italy for Brescia. At that time, Guardiola was banned from playing for four months. However, he maintained his innocence, continued to appeal and was acquitted in 2009. To date, the incident has gradually been forgotten and people only remember Guardiola as one of the best coaches of all time.
Duy Doan (according to Daily Mail )
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