Soccer: EPO warning from Fifa medical head

Some European soccer players are using the blood-boosting drug EPO to enhance their stamina, says Fifa medical head Michel D'Hooghe.

In an interview with Britain's Observer newspaper yesterday, the chairman of the world governing body's medical commission said footballers in the major European leagues were using banned drugs to help cope with the large number of games they needed to play.

"EPO is now quite commonly used in other sports and I cannot imagine there is a barrier for EPO around the football field," said D'Hooghe.

"If a player playing all these games feels exhausted, this could be the answer: to take an artificial product to improve his condition to make him feel he can run for 90 minutes.

"That could be EPO, anabolic steroids or amphetamines."

The International Olympic Committee introduced a combined blood and urine test for EPO at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In each game during this year's World Cup in South Korea and Japan, two players from each side will be asked to provide a blood as well as a urine sample after each match to deter the use of EPO.