The Guardian reports:
‘An Italian judge is investigating the suspicious deaths of three former Fiorentina players amid fears that drugs their clubs allegedly gave them may have triggered their fatal illnesses.
‘Luigi Bocciolini, a public prosecutor in Florence, decided to open an investigation into the cases of Bruno Beatrice, who died in 1987 of leukaemia aged 39, Nello Saltutti, who died after a heart attack in 2003 at 56, and Ugo Ferrante, who died in November 2004 of cancer of the tonsils at 59.
‘A larger-scale inquiry was recently conducted into drug-taking in Italian football by a Turin magistrate. Raffaele Guariniello's investigation encompassed the apparently high incidence of cancer, leukaemia and a rare disease of the nervous system among players who have appeared for top Italian clubs.
‘Guariniello's investigation led to the conviction of the Juventus club doctor Riccardo Agricola, found guilty of administering banned substances and given a suspended 20-month prison sentence in a trial that ended in Turin last November, six years after the inquiry started. It was not suggested that Agricola caused any health problems to players.
‘Guariniello, during his inquiry, interviewed Saltutti immediately after his first heart attack in 1997. "When I used to play they gave us medicines, telling us they were vitamins," the former player said after a one-hour session with Guariniello. "Before every match, for example, they dissolved Micoren on a sugar cube.
‘"Six months ago I had a heart attack. And the fact is that the instructions which come with Micoren state that its prolonged use might have consequences for the coronary arteries. I played about 500 matches during my career and I think I used Micoren more or less 300 times. I think what happened to me was because of having taken that. And I know that other people have had the same problems as me."
‘Saltutti, before his death in 2003, had also given an interview to two Italian writers, Fabrizio Calzia and Massimiliano Castellani, which appears in their book Palla Avvelenata (Poisoned football).
‘"When I was playing with Milan's youth teams they were giving us everything. I don't know if it was normal but I grew up 15cm in one year, from 160cm to 175cm. In those days I was just happy to grow without thinking that it was strange.
‘"When I was at Fiorentina," Saltutti continued, "I remember a friendly against Manchester United. Before the game they gave us a bottle telling us there was coffee inside. We had to drink it because it was good for us. I did not drink coffee, so I could not understand why I should have started that night. I played a great game and scored. I impressed the British press which labelled me as the 'Italian Greyhound' the day after the game.
‘"That 'coffee' was very good for us. We all played very well and ran twice as fast as usual. The day after, however, we were all destroyed. Since then that coffee was always in our locker room together with pills and other strange products.
‘"I have always had a healthy life, always training and with a controlled food regime. I was very surprised after my first heart attack in 1997."’