Michele Ferrari Ordered to Stand Trial in New Doping Investigation
Lance Armstrong’s former physician, Michele Ferrari, has been ordered to stand trial for allegedly providing doping assistance to a biathlete in Italy.
The Italian biathlete, Daniel Taschler, and his father, Gottlieb, a vice-president of the international federation, were indicted during a preliminary hearing in Bolzano, Italy, yesterday.
The story was broken by the Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport, which also published details regarding an alleged phone call, wherein Ferrari told Taschler how to use the performance enhancing drug; reportedly – telling him to inject it “in the vein”.
Further details of the alleged phone suggest, that Ferrari also told Taschler to obtain a different telephone number to call him.
“If you use your phone, they can find you thanks to that number.”
According to report, the evidence was uncovered during the US Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) previous investigation involving payments made between Armstrong and Ferrari.
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) has already begun its investigation, with a preliminary round of questioning back in September, involving Taschler, Ferrari and his son Stefano – who is suspected of running his father coaching business.
Ferrari made other headlines recently, when he attempted to block the showing of the new Lance Armstrong biopic, The Program, because of a scene which depicts the doctor injecting EPO into Armstrong’s character – for which he claims never happened in real-life.
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