Zidane denies drug doctor links and says he will sue

Zinedine Zidane has denied using an Italian doctor linked to supplying banned drugs to cyclists and says he will sue for slander the Rome newspaper 'Corriere dello Sport'.

Dr Michele Ferrari could go to trial in September for supplying illegal supplements to athletes but reports printed in the Italian newspaper on Thursday said that former French cyclist Erwan Mentheour said he saw Zidane at the Bologna surgery of Ferrari in his pretrial evidence.

"I've never seen this doctor in my life, nor the cyclist Erwan Mantheour," said the French star as he denied the claims.

"And above all I never visited Bologna other than to play with Juve," Zidane told the French sports daily 'L'Equipe'.

"All this is just gross stupidity. On Monday I'll be lodging a complaint for slander against the newspaper which printed this and anyone who talks about it," said Zidane.

"The most difficult thing to deal with is to see my name dragged around at will. Maybe some people want to gain publicity by using my name. That isn't serious. What's important is that these assertions are clarified and that they are formally denied."

Ferrari has also been linked with Tour de France leader Lance Armstrong and is being investigated by Italian magistrates after his work with EPO (erythropoietin) which helps athletes with their stamina by boosing the oxygen use of their blood.

The doctor worked with EPO developer Professor Francesco Conconi who is also now the subject of an investigation.