"Thousands of euros sponsoring these doping practices" - Former W52-FC Porto DS reveals team owner was financing huge doping ring

The trial of the "Prova Limpa" case reached another chapter today, when the former sports director of W52-FC Porto, Nuno Ribeiro, was heard and lashed out at the past owner of the now-disgraced Portuguese team.

This case gained international notoriety back in 2022 due to the sheer volume of consequences it led to. Besides having their UCI license taken away by the UCI, the case led to the suspension of almost every single one of the 12 riders - including past Volta a Portugal winners Ricardo Mestre, Rui Vinhas, João Rodrigues and Amaro Antunes; as well as other high-level figures such as Joni Brandão and José Neves.

Ribeiro himself, who had been suspended already as a rider in the 2000's (with a Volta a Portugal removed from his palmarès) was suspended for a whole 25 years for possession, administration and trafficking of prohibited substances. With little else to lose, the statements that followed have opened their eyes more into the insides of the team.

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Nuno Ribeiro asked to make a statement in the absence of all the defendants, claiming to have suffered immense pressure and threats from team owner Adriano Quintanilha, saying that Quintanilha had approached him three times in the past to "take all the blame" in exchange for 2,000 euros a month for two years. Nuno Ribeiro initially read out a statement before giving his evidence in which he said: "I didn't feel like a criminal. I was weak for giving in. I should have said no and not (not aid in the doping process, ed.) I feel sad and sorry. I know how wrong I was and I apologize to society, to everyone, but above all to my athletes," he said emotionally.

Quoted by Agência Lusa, the former manager said: "I never had money for doping, nor did I instigate the use of doping. It was and always Mr. Adriano who did it. Mr. Adriano spent thousands of euros sponsoring these doping practices," before addressing Adriano Quintanilha: "He was a dictator and a master of manipulation. He knew everything, wanted to win at all costs and said: 'I pay to win and I win'. He would throw it in the cyclists' faces and threaten them. The atmosphere was hellish," he said.

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The former sports director of W52-FC Porto assumed that doping was normal in the cycling team, but guarantees that he never encouraged its use and that it was Adriano Quintanilha who encouraged, promoted and paid for the practice of doping. He said that the W52-FC Porto boss "paid the cyclists an extra amount every month" to buy the substances and that the strategy adopted to "mask these payments was through fictitious allowances", such as paying for meals or kilometers.

After mentioning this scheme, the defense asked the court to lift the bank secrecy on an account belonging to A.C. Várzea Clube de Ciclismo, the Sobrado club that was sponsored by Quintanilha's company.

With this testimony, a little more of the veil has been lifted from someone who allegedly always claimed not to know what was going on. After all, Adriano Quintanilha has gone from presumed innocent to alleged ringleader of the doping scheme and will have to answer many unanswered questions.

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