Nuno Veiga / Lusa
There was doping “all year round” at W52-FC Porto, and it was paid for by Adriano Quintanilha, “master of manipulation”, says Nuno Ribeiro in court: “everyone knew”.
The former sporting director of W52-FC Porto Nuno Ribeiro admitted that there was doping throughout the year in the cycling team, financed and encouraged by the boss Adriano Quintanilha, “master of manipulation, who wanted to win at all costs”.
Nuno Ribeiro, who spoke for the first time at the trial of the ‘Prova Limpa’ operation, — which has 26 defendants, including former cyclists — asked to give testimony in the absence of the other defendants, claiming to have been “suffering pressures and threats”, notably by also accused Adriano Teixeira de Sousa, known as Adriano Quintanilha.
“I was weak”
The winner of the 2003 Tour of Portugal began by reading a written statement, in which he admitted that his only mistake was knowing what was happening within the team and not having the ability to say nofor being economically dependent on the position he held, refuting the accusation that he was the “brain” of the scheme for the consumption of doping substances and attributing this role to the then owner of W52-FC Porto.
Nuno Ribeiro stressed that he never demanded, encouraged or forced any cyclist to take doping substances, admitting, however, that they would speak to him, in particular, to ask how they could “take doping” without being detected.
Ribeiro assured that he never used his professional ancestry to get cyclists to “take doping”, but only to make them better, highlighting that he advised them not to ingest certain substances, which “they used it as they saw fit”.
“I didn’t feel like a criminal. I was weak for giving in. I should have said no and no [ao doping]. I feel sad and regretful. I know how much I made a mistake and I apologize to society, to everyone, but especially to my athletes”, he said, in an emotional tone, saying, further, that he never bought or sold doping substances, asking the Court not to impose a custodial sentence on him. .
Doping “all year round” paid for by Quintanilha
Regarding the doping scheme at W52-FC Porto, according to Nuno Ribeiro, it was financed and encouraged by the then team leader, between 2020 and 2022.
The former sporting director revealed to the court that the ingestion of doping substances by cyclists “was regular throughout the sporting season” and the funding for this purpose came from the then team owner and occurred “during the entire calendar year”.
In addition to his salary, according to this accused, Adriano Quintanilha gave money, monthly, to cyclists to pay for doping substanceswhich they acquired via the Internet, from pharmacies or other ways.
Nuno Ribeiro explained that, to “mask these payments”, the former head of W52-FC Porto used “fictitious allowances”with kilometers or private expenses, such as lunches, which were never made, which is why the defense requested the Court to lift the banking secrecy of an account of the Associação Calvário Várzea Clube De Ciclismo – the team’s original club -, which would be used to make these payments.
Nuno Ribeiro also said that “the majority” of the W52-FC Porto team “knew that there was doping and that Mr. Adriano was the one financing it”.
“I never had money for doping, nor did I instigate the use of doping. It was and always Mr. Adriano who did it. Mr Adriano spent thousands of euros sponsoring these doping practices”, stated the former sporting director.
“Atmosphere was hellish”
According to Nuno Ribeiro, Adriano Quintanilha’s speech in all the tests “was always the same”, speaking of “dictator and master of manipulation”.
“I want, I can, I order and I pay. He knew everything, wanted to win at all costs and said: ‘I pay to win and I win’. He threw this in the cyclists’ faces and threatened them. The environment was hellish”he declared.
Ribeiro revealed that Quintanilha has already approached him three times to “take all the blame”, in exchange for 2,000 euros a month for two years, which he never accepted, adding that he left the last meeting “full of fear”, as Quintanilha “threatened, insulted and humiliated everyone”.
The trial continues on Monday afternoon.
