A drugs-cheat amateur cyclist who had his sentence cut by anti-doping chiefs for whistleblowing is at the centre of explosive new claims that a doctor illegally treated 150 elite sportsmen, including Premier League footballers.
Dan Stevens, 39, is believed to be the sportsman who tipped off the UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) about private clinician Dr Mark Bonar who he said was prescribing performance enhancing drugs to himself and other athletes.
When they failed to act on his dossier of evidence, the source tipped off a newspaper and Dr Bonar was secretly filmed describing a network of high-profile clients, including two professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing and squad members with Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City.
The taxpayer-funded UK Anti-Doping watchdog is now facing a Government inquiry after it emerged they were alerted about Dr Bonar in 2014.
Ukad is understood to have been handed two written prescriptions signed by Dr Bonar but officials failed to pursue the matter because he is not governed by a sporting body. They did not pass the information on to the General Medical Council.
However, the whistleblower is said to have had his sentence cut for supplying the information, having failed to supply a sample for an out-of-competition anti-doping test in January 2014.
It came as a the clubs embroiled in the doping row vehemently denied the allegations.
Arsenal said it was "extremely disappointed" by the claims, "which are without foundation", while Chelsea said they are "false and entirely without foundation". Leicester and Birmingham City - also named in the report - also vigorously denied them.
Meanwhile, the Omniya Clinic, where Bonar was based in Knightsbridge, west London, denied ever seeing a high-profile sportsman on the premises as it said his contract was terminated on Friday.
In a statement, the clinic said: "We have checked our records thoroughly during the period Dr Bonar worked at Omniya and apart from the undercover athlete the Sunday Times used in its investigation, we can find absolutely no trace of a single high-profile sportsman or woman who has been treated or been seen at the clinic by Dr Bonar.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...of-drug-cheat-claims-against-150-sport-stars/
Summary:
- Cyclist got banned for using performance-enhancing drugs
- He turned whistleblower in return for a more lenient ban
- UK Anti-Doping didn't act on his information
- Cyclist then went to The Sunday Times
- The Sunday Times obtained undercover footage of Dr Mark Bonar talking about clients, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester players
- Government about to commission an independent review of UK Anti-Doping
Dan Stevens, 39, is believed to be the sportsman who tipped off the UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) about private clinician Dr Mark Bonar who he said was prescribing performance enhancing drugs to himself and other athletes.
When they failed to act on his dossier of evidence, the source tipped off a newspaper and Dr Bonar was secretly filmed describing a network of high-profile clients, including two professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing and squad members with Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City.
The taxpayer-funded UK Anti-Doping watchdog is now facing a Government inquiry after it emerged they were alerted about Dr Bonar in 2014.
Ukad is understood to have been handed two written prescriptions signed by Dr Bonar but officials failed to pursue the matter because he is not governed by a sporting body. They did not pass the information on to the General Medical Council.
However, the whistleblower is said to have had his sentence cut for supplying the information, having failed to supply a sample for an out-of-competition anti-doping test in January 2014.
It came as a the clubs embroiled in the doping row vehemently denied the allegations.
Arsenal said it was "extremely disappointed" by the claims, "which are without foundation", while Chelsea said they are "false and entirely without foundation". Leicester and Birmingham City - also named in the report - also vigorously denied them.
Meanwhile, the Omniya Clinic, where Bonar was based in Knightsbridge, west London, denied ever seeing a high-profile sportsman on the premises as it said his contract was terminated on Friday.
In a statement, the clinic said: "We have checked our records thoroughly during the period Dr Bonar worked at Omniya and apart from the undercover athlete the Sunday Times used in its investigation, we can find absolutely no trace of a single high-profile sportsman or woman who has been treated or been seen at the clinic by Dr Bonar.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...of-drug-cheat-claims-against-150-sport-stars/
Summary:
- Cyclist got banned for using performance-enhancing drugs
- He turned whistleblower in return for a more lenient ban
- UK Anti-Doping didn't act on his information
- Cyclist then went to The Sunday Times
- The Sunday Times obtained undercover footage of Dr Mark Bonar talking about clients, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester players
- Government about to commission an independent review of UK Anti-Doping
