A scandal that tarnishes Spain's reputation at the Olympics

Mundo Deportivo newspaper opened the door to accusations against the Spanish government of cheating in the Barcelona 1992 tournament, days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The Barcelona 92 ​​Games are considered the best Games in Spain's history in terms of results, as the host country won 22 medals (13 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze).

Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes said that he received an order from the Spanish government during the preparations for the Games, that he must do anything to help his country achieve medals.

In a hidden camera video in 2021, as part of a German television report on doping at the Olympics, Fuentes asserted that he had “operated in the shadows for 4 years” and that the only restrictions he had received were no positive doping tests or “health problems” resulting from the medical care he provided to athletes.

"It was a strategy that allowed me to work freely, without pressure, without the press," he explained, noting that the Spanish used methods and individuals that helped countries surrounding the Soviet Union, such as the German Democratic Republic, to obtain stimulant drugs.

Fuentes stressed that the chosen method, which was already banned at the time, was blood doping, as it was, according to him, "safer, cleaner and easier... to control the blood."

He noted that he also used "other classic doping methods," such as the treatment he applied to athlete Caetano Cornet, using "hormones, growth hormone and testosterone."

Fuentes, speaking to the hidden cameras, concluded that he was no longer actively involved in blood doping, but he knew that "other people were doing it."