Del Piero drops libel action after doping allegations
First Published: Feb 25, 2002Juventus star Alessandro Del Piero has dropped his libel action against former AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman.
Rome prosecutor Bruno Azzolini ordered the end of the action today which arose from claims made by the Czech-born Zeman that Juventus were giving their players anabolic steroids against Italian league rules.
Zeman is now coach of Serie B side Salernitana and made doping allegations against Juve in the August 1998 issue of 'Expresso' magazine.
Del Piero and then Chelsea coach Gianluca Vialli were named by Zeman and the article prompted an investigation by Turin magistrate Raffaele Guariniello which lasted nearly two years and whose findings - including a list of dope cheats - have never been made public.
Today Rome official Azzolini accepted the request of lawyer Giancarlo Amato to drop the case and said Zeman had not libelled Del Piero.
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