Le Monde's chief editor for sports, Stéphane Mandard told 'Deutschlandfunk that Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes showed him several documents with the doping programms of football players from Spanish football clubs F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Mandard said: "These documents were the medication schemes for a complete season. There were no names of Athletes on it, but numbers. And for instance Season 2005/2006 F.C. Barcelona. Fuentes had drawn signs in it: 'IG', a circle or a circle with a dot."

Spanish police decrypted the signs in the 'medical' plans of Fuentes. The signs stand for growth hormones, steroids and EPO.

'Le Monde' already reported in a story published in 2006 that Spanish Football clubs FC Barcelona and Real madrid were involved as well. Last year Le Monde lost a court case about the report but the French newspaper appealed against the decision.

But last week UCI president Pat McQuaid told German TV station ARD that during a meeting in 2006 with Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky and Spanish investigators he was told that the 200 athletes linked with illegal practices were not all cyclists. Football players and athletes from other sports like tennis, track and field and swimming were also involved.

In yesterdays radio show on 'Deutschlandfunk' McQuaid repeated his claim. McQuaid said: "There [during the meeting with Spanish sports minister Jaime Lissavetzky and Spanish investigators in Madrid,editor] I was told that not 200 cyclists were clients from Fuentes, only between 50 and 60. Other disciplines were involved as well. I asked: which disciplines? The answer was football [European soccer, editor], athletics, swimming and tennis."

Spanish authorities never officially mentioned the involvement of other sports in the affair which broke out during the 2006 Giro d'Italia, after Spanish police arrested Eufemiano Fuentes and several others. Spanish police raided several building on the same day and found performance enhancing drugs and several refrigerators with bloodbags in it.

For two years UEFA officials claimed that doping would not make sense in football, but Deutschlandfunk's radio show yesterday also reported that the United European Fooball Association (UEFA) invests Euro 350.000 in doping controls during the European Championships Football which started yesterday.

Deutschlandfunk reported that during the Champions League finale of May 23, 1993 (between A.C. Milan and Olympique Marseille), only one player of French football club Olympique Marseille did not take performance engancing drugs, German Rudi Völler. Marseille won the final and the other players all took amphetamines.

Former teammate of Rudi Völler with Marseille, Jean-Jacques Eydelie published a book in which he describes the circumstances around the 1993 finale.  Eydelie  admitted he was doped during the finale. Eydelie said: "The order has been given, they didn't ask us. We had to line up and Rudi flipped out. I can remember Rudi Völler's reaction very well."

Two other teammates confirmed Eydelies claim. Eydelies played with almost a dozen other football clubs and says it was the same everywhere. "I was three years in Sion and before the first game, my first game I came in the dressing room and the two youngest players were lying there and became transfusions with cow blood, cow blood. It was inapprehensible." 

In the nineties Italian football club Juventus Turin wins three national championships, one European title and wins the world title for clubs. A few years later Juventus is charged for systematic doping. All players have to appear for court, among them stars like Vialli, Zidane and Del Pierro. Juventus was not convicted but only because the case was time-barred. But the judge made it very clear that most players were doped with epo and other substances and Juventus did systematically dope their players.

During the Italian football season 2000/2001 there were 11 positives for steroids in Italy. Among the involved players were athletes who played for the Portugese and Dutch national team.

Asked how he manage to stay so fit at his age, French rock star Johnny Hallyday told French tv in 2003, that he received blood transfusions in Switzerland. According to Hallyday he was tipped by his friend Zidane. Hallyday said that Zidane did that twice a year. This practice is called blood doping.