The vice president of the Argentinian soccer club San Martin, Jorge Miadoski, confirmed on Thursday that two more soccer players, one from his team, tested positive for the anti-inflammatory Oxa B12, a strong painkiller, in a drug test.
These two new cases brings the total to 67 players recently involved in doping in Argentinian soccer.
Miadoski warned that “there are many more players” in this situation and some have already had to face the consequences. The 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.
Oxa B12 has been forbidden in Argentinian soccer since 2013 and it is not penalized because it enhances performance. It is penalized 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 analyzing the tests.
“When the tests were analyzed 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.