Real Madrid rebut doping accusations against Sergio Ramos

Madrid, Nov 24: Real Madrid has said that team captain Sergio Ramos has never run afoul of anti-doping rules, responding to a news account claiming the Spain international tested positive for a restricted substance after the 2017 Champions League final.

"Sergio Ramos has never breached anti-doping regulations," the club said in a brief statement late Friday.

The team spoke out after German newsweekly Der Spiegel ran a report from Football Leaks contending that Ramos tested positive for desametasome following Real Madrid's victory over Juventus in the Champions League final, reports Efe news.

Desametasome is permitted if the player gives notice before testing. In this case, according to Football Leaks, the UEFA testers said they had no advance notice that Ramos was using the substance.

Real Madrid, however, said that UEFA "immediately closed the case referred to, as is customary in such instances, following tests carried out by experts from the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) and UEFA itself."

Der Spiegel's story also maintained that "no disciplinary action was taken, neither against the player nor against the team doctor from Real Madrid, despite all of the anomalies in the case."

The Spanish club said that "given the clearly insubstantial nature of the reports," it would not respond to the claim that the alleged infraction went unpunished.