Two more footballers in dope net in Argentina

Argentine football club San Martin's vice president Jorge Miadoski has confirmed that two more footballers, one from his team, tested positive for the anti-inflammatory strong painkiller Oxa B12 in a drug test.

These two new cases, revealed on Thursday, brought the total to 67 players recently found involved in doping in Argentine football, reports Xinhua news agency.

Miadoski warned that "there are many more players" in this situation and some have already had to face the consequences.

The San Martin vice president said this situation was down to "mistakes" from medical advisers and a lack of information regarding regulations.

"From the moment we found out that we couldn't use (the medicine) we changed everything," said Miadoski on Thursday.

Oxa B12 has been forbidden in Argentine football since 2013 and it is not penalised for enhancing performance.

It is barred as it could generate problems in athletes' bodies in the future.

Midfielders Matias Sanchez (Temperley) and Daniel Gonzalez (San Martin), both from the first division, are the latest to test positive in a drug test. However, it is unknown when exactly the test was taken.

"Many things need to be clarified but there are other players that are already in a similar situation. Now all the names will start to come out," added Miadoski.

The vice president blamed the recent change to using a laboratory in Colombia for analysing the tests.

"When the tests were analysed here they didn't come back positive. It could be that the reagents used did not look for the medicine but instead looked for social drugs. I am surprised because now they are done in a laboratory in Colombia and they come back positive," said Miadoski.

In this season, so far forwards Javier Toledo (San Martin) and Sebastian Blanco (San Lorenzo) have also tested positive and are awaiting their punishment.

--IANS

sam/vt