Head of Portuguese Anti-Doping agency under death threats after W52-FC Porto suspension

António Júlio Nunes, the CEO of the Portuguese Anti-Doping Agency (ADOP) has shared on Linkedin a post where he revealed that ever since W52-FC Porto's UCI license was removed, he has suffered death threats.

The Portuguese team, which has widely dominated the national calendar since it's start in 2013, has had it's UCI license taken away as a result of an ongoing investigation which sees eight of it's 11 riders on preventive suspension due to suspicions of use of prohibited substances. This came around a week before the start of the Volta a Portugal, the country's most important event, and has caused a lot of stir and controversy.

It is widely believed that the presence of FC Porto - one of the country's leading football clubs - is behind the wave of death threats to Nunes. Having raised the sport's awareness in Portugal due to the collaboration, the wave of fans coming from other sports and the attention the case is receiving in the Portuguese media has seen opinions divided and extremism significantly increase, with some defending the team's suspension is not justified and going as far as claiming the investigation is a plot to take down the club.

The head of the Anti-Doping agency has inclusively been mailed a used bullet, and has shared that "threats to my physical integrity are accumulating" and that as a result, he and his family were placed under police surveillance due to the ongoing abuse.