Football Leaks latest bombshell came at the expense of Sergio Ramos but it did not take too long for the two parties mentioned to jump to the Spaniard's defense. They are his Real Madrid and UEFA, both issuing statement shortly after the report went public.
According to the whistleblowers, as publicized by Der Spiegel, the Blancos center-back was guilty of breaching anti-doping rules in the 2017 Champions League final. The leak claims that the World Cup winner tested positive for dexamethasone, but the European football's governing body deemed this as an administrative error.
The reason for this is that dexamethasone, the substance allegedly injected into Ramos before that victory over Juventus, is not permitted unless a medical doctor reports its administration. The report claims that the Merengues staff failed to disclose this to UEFA but Real Madrid insists that the organization was aware of its administration.
"Ramos has never breached the anti-doping control regulations," the reigning Champions League holder said in a statement.
"UEFA requested timely information and closed the matter immediately, as is usual in these cases, after verification by the experts themselves."
The European football governing body also denied these allegations. The organization stated that there was no cover-up regarding Ramos' doping test as there had been no irregularities.
"UEFA strongly and categorically refutes unfounded allegations it has covered up positive doping results.
"All Uefa doping control cases are conducted in full compliance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code."
"UEFA has informed both Wada and Fifa of all such cases as required by the Wada Code and Uefa has provided all detailed information, expert reports and evidence during the handling of such cases."
Football Leaks also claimed that the 32-year-old breached regulations on another instance. They report that the center-back allegedly refused to undergo a doping test right after the game between Real Madrid and Málaga in April 2018, asking if he could take a shower first, which is against the rules.
The Spanish Primera Division giant, however, did not comment on any other allegation due to the inaccuracy. They stated: "In terms of the rest of the content published by the aforementioned publication, the club will not be making any comment, given the clearly insubstantial nature of the reports."
