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BBC Sport Online: Football: Teams: Rangers


Friday, 11 May, 2001, 18:41 GMT 19:41 UK

No dope fears at Ibrox



Dick Advocaat is unconcerned about nandrolone
Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has no fears that his players will be sucked into the doping fiasco affecting the Dutch national squad.

Advocaat - a former manager of the Dutch national side - has six current Holland internationals on his books.

The Dutch football association KNVB has launched an internal investigation in the wake of two high-profile internationals testing positive.

First Edgar Davids of Juventus and then Barcelona's Frank de Boer tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

Both failed drugs tests at the end of matches for their clubs that followed soon after international duty.

Unconcerned

Red-faced KNVB officials admitted they feared their own medical staff had accidentally laced food supplements for players with the banned substances.

But Advocaat insisted he was unconcerned because his six players, Ronald de Boer, Arthur Numan, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Bert Konterman, Fernando Ricksen and Michael Mols, had not been part of a Dutch squad for some time.

"I don't think that many players from Rangers were involved with the national side because at that point everybody was injured," said Advocaat.


De Boer is willing to undergo tests
Ronald de Boer said he had not had to take a drugs test since joining Rangers and he claims that he too had no concerns about himself or any of his Ibrox team-mates.

He believes traces of nandrolone would not be found and added that if asked by either Rangers or KNVB to take a drugs test he would be willing to do so.

Independent tests

"No, I'm not worried," he said. "Everyone has made a big fuss of it but I don't think that those guys (at Rangers) have it.

"If they think it is necessary to do it (introduce drugs tests), I will do it. But it is not for me to think about it at this moment."

A Uefa spokesman confirmed that the governing body of European football was investigating only Frank de Boer, as his test failure came after a Uefa Cup match, and they were awaiting independent tests on a separate sample before planning any further action.

It is unlikely therefore that any of the Rangers Dutch contingent would be asked to take any tests.

Konterman has already suggested that Dutch farmers were to blame for the problem by injecting their meat with too many steroids.


Related to this story:
Konterman blames Dutch farmers (10 May 01 | Rangers)
Increase Scots drugs tests, urges SPL (10 May 01 | Scot Prem)
Westerveld defends drug claim duo (10 May 01 | Liverpool)
Dutch launch drug probe (09 May 01 | Europe)
Drugs rear their ugly head - again (24 Apr 01 | BBC Pundits)
Lazio star fails drugs test (21 Apr 01 | Europe)
Nandrolone: The history (31 Jul 00 | Drugs in Sport)

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