CYCLING’S GOVERNING BODY says it will appeal the decision of a Madrid court to destroy the blood bags and other evidence from the Operation Puerto doping case.
The UCI says in a statement Friday it will contest the April 29 ruling by a Spanish judge not to turn over more than 200 blood bags seized in police raids on doctor Eufemiano Fuentes in 2006.
The Madrid court found Fuentes guilty of endangering public health and handed him a one-year suspended jail sentence. He was barred from sports medical practice for four years and ordered to pay a $6,000 fine.
Judge Julia Santamaria cited Spanish privacy laws in her decision not to turn over the evidence to anti-doping authorities.
The ruling would prevent officials from identifying the doctor’s blood-doping clients and pursuing disciplinary cases against them.
