The Criminal Court of Penafiel decided this Friday to prosecute all the accused (26 people) in the Prova Limpa case, involving former directors and cyclists of the W52-FC Porto, “in exact accordance with the prosecution of the Ministry of State”. [MP]”.
The information was provided to the Lusa agency by a judicial source on the day when the judge in the criminal case notified the parties of the investigative order by which all 26 accused were announced (brought to court).
Among the 26 accused are Adriano Teixeira de Souza, known as Adriano Quintanilla, Associação Calvário Várzea Clube De Ciclismo – the club that created the team – the former sporting director of W52-FC Porto Nuno Ribeiro and his assistant José Rodriguez, who will respond for crimes related to illicit trafficking in prohibited substances and methods, as well as for crimes related to the use of prohibited substances and methods.
João Rodrigues, Ruy Viñas, Ricardo Mestre, Samuel Caldeira, Daniel Mestre, Jose Neves, Ricardo Vilela, Joni Brandao and Jose Gonçalves – all serving suspensions imposed by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Authority – and Jorge Magalhães, whose trial is ongoing. In the sports field, former W52-FC Porto cyclists will face trial for trafficking in prohibited substances and methods, as well as Daniel Freitas, who represented the Dragons between 2016 and 2018.
Former cyclist Hugo Sancho, now retired and serving a four-year ban due to anomalies in his biological passport, will also be charged with crimes related to trafficking and use of prohibited substances and methods.
Some defendants have asked for an investigation, an optional step that aims to allow a criminal investigation judge to decide whether the trial will proceed and in what format.
Prosecutors accused Adriano Sousa, Nuno Ribeiro, the team’s sporting director during Operation Prova Limpa, and accountant and general manager Hugo Veloso of drawing up a “scheme” of doping at W52-FC Porto in order to “increase profitability” cyclists, according to the indictment to which Lusa had access.
“from at least 2020”, the goal is to “increase the profitability of its cyclists”. […] in order to obtain better results.”
The collective trial will take place in the Penafiel Court.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.