The Indie reports:
‘Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has implied that some of his foreign players may have used illegal, performance-enhancing drugs prior to their arrival at Highbury, describing symptoms consistent with the use of erythropoietin (EPO).
‘The Arsenal manager's remarks are certain not only to spark speculation about which specific players he was referring to but also to reignite the debate about the seriousness - or the lack of it - surrounding drug-testing in football.
‘Wenger is the first high-profile coach in world football to reveal so explicitly his suspicions about systematic doping. He is also the first in Britain to voice suspicions about his own players' pasts.
‘"We have had some players come to us at Arsenal from other clubs abroad and their red blood cell count has been abnormally high," he said. "That kind of thing makes you wonder."
‘Arsenal routinely monitor all aspects of their players' health and fitness, including in-house blood tests. Wenger did not name any individuals nor say when the high counts occurred.
‘A spokesman for UK Sport confirmed that the extra cost to the FA of testing for EPO - as opposed to just testing for more "common" performance-enhancing or recreational drugs - was "significant."
‘In fact, of the 1,324 drugs test samples collected by UK Sport for the FA in the year between 1 April 2003 and 31 March this year, not a single one was tested for EPO. Of those 1,324 tests, seven had "adverse" outcomes.
‘One player tested positive for testosterone but was found to have no case to answer. Another player, Rio Ferdinand, failed to comply with the testing regulations. He was subsequently banned for eight months, returning to action last month for Manchester United and this week for England.
‘Three players tested positive for marijuana. Two tested positive for stimulants, with one of them found to have benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, in his sample. He was suspended for six months. It is normal procedure for any player testing positive to have their identity kept confidential.’