Dutch documentary claims that Juve doped in '96

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At the start of the summer, a sensational football documentary was screened by a well-known Dutch TV program “Andere Tijden Sport”(“Sports of the Past”, on the public channel NOS). Titled “Ajax-Juventus: Bloedverraad in de Champions League-finale” (“The Blood Betrayal in the Champions League final”), it was seen by over one million people in the Netherlands.

The documentary’s main “crime scene” was the 1996 Champions League Final between Ajax and Juventus, played in the latter’s home country, at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.

The dynasty of the era’s magical Amsterdam team, reigning champions of Europe and the world, was still alive and kicking. For Juventus, the final embodied the culmination of their sudden renaissance that had been conceived in 1994 when Marcelo Lippi had taken over.

The Italians dominated the final. Juve took an early lead with a goal by Fabrizio Ravanelli. Jari Litmanen equalized for Ajax. The match entered overtime and penalties. As Ajax’s Davids and Silooy missed, Jugovic’s successful spot-kick secured the second-ever European title for La Vecchia Signora.


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The documentary’s main thesis was that the Juventus line-up had been “doped” with banned substances in that final. In other words, their title had been undeserved. (Following the same logic, blood was quickly smelled in Argentina too; River Plate had lost the Intercontinental Cup 1-0 to Juve in November 1996.)

There have been Ajax-originated doubts regarding the 1996 final before. “That look in their eyes,” Marc Overmars reminisced in 2010. ”So aggressive!” He suggested that the Juventus right back had played a suspiciously aggressive and impressive match— perhaps due to cocaine.

However, the main argument of the documentary concerned blood doping, and more precisely, the use of EPO. (EPO, however, is not a stimulant that causes recreational drug-like effects in the apparent tone of Overmars’s suggestions. It’s one that increases endurance, enabling the athlete to run for longer. Similarly, the documentary’s revelations about the inadequate post-final doping-testing facilities and procedures in Rome appear insignificant in light of the fact EPO was globally undetectable at the time.)

The program’s main arguments were voiced by experienced Italians Giuseppe D’Onoffrio, a well-respected medical expert, and Sandro Donati, a former athletics coach and an anti-doping legend. Both argued that documents seized from Juventus in the late 1990s were a dead giveaway of blood manipulation, either via EPO or, “less likely”, 1970s-style blood transfusions. (Both were banned in 1996 and remain so.)

In practice, the papers illustrate abnormally high alterations in the blood values (more precisely: the hematocrit, the measure of red blood cells) of several players. The experts appear adamant that it can’t be a coincidence.

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