Parma AC's Torrisi fails dope test

Parma AC defender Stefano Torrisi has failed a dope test with another player also testing 'non-negative' for a banned substance

Two players have tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone after Parma's game with Bari earlier in the season..

"Parma are waiting calmly for the counter-analysis," the club's statement said last night.

Torrisi is a former Torino, Atletico Madrid and Bologna player and has denied taking any banned substance.

"I'm destroyed by this news but I'm clean," he says on Parma's web site.

Ten players including two world stars have now tested positive for nandrolone this season in Italy but investigations by Italian and Dutch authorities are looking at new fod supplements used from last summer which could be behind the spate of test results.

FC Barcelona expect central defender Frank de Boer to banned next week for at least a year by the Spanish FA after he failed a dope test.

The Holland captain is waiting for the results of a second test on a sample taken after a UEFA Cup game in March against Celta Vigo but media leaks in Spain suggest de Boer is facing a ban from the Spanish FA and world governing FIFA which means he may miss the 2002 World Cup finals.

The de Boer case developments are the lastest in a succession of drug stories in Europe this season.

Italy's Serie A has seen two players produce 'non-negative' drug test results after Bari's game with Parma AC last month.

Two Perugia stars were banned for two years earlier this season and SS Lazio defender Fernando Couto was banned indefinitely and faces long term punishment after failing dope tests earlier this year and Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids is banned for sxteen months after testing 'non-negative' two months ago for nandrolone.

Davids and de Boer's case has seen the KNVB look at recent diet supplements given to their players.

The dietary supplement issue is a false trail if clubs and players are deliberately using performance-enhancing drugs to help expensive stars recover from tiredness and injuries but if the diet supplements are to blame for recent test results then clubs across the world will have to review their use.

Several top English clubs - including Arsenal - use creatine which can boost energy levels and is not a banned stimulant . But the possible side effects of such diet foods when combined with fitness work and the strict diets top footballers use can damage drug test results. Nandrolone occurs naturally in the body and can fluctuate due to stress, muscular activity and hormonal balance but has been responsible for failed drug test results in several sports including athletics, cycling and swimming. Serious and prolonged steroid use by strength athletes does not often indicate excessive nandrolone presence. The cliched image of muscle-bound athletes injecting steroids has little to do with current football drug abuse which is the biggest news in Italy right now with ten players already failing dope tests this season and Barcelona are now victims of what the Dutch may find was a big mistake in their diet plans for players.