ROME, Aug 7: Italian football could end up like the Tour de France, riddled with drugs and the object of scandal, AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman warned on Thursday, reports AFP.

Zeman pointed a finger at Juventus for their ability to develop the muscles of team members — starting with Gianluca Vialll. now manager of Chelsea, and finishing with national idol Alessandro Del Piero.

Zeman, interviewed in today's edition of L’Espresso magazine. extracts of which were released a day early, also claimed that Diego Maradona's descent into drugs could have been avoided by prompt action.

There hasn't yet been the explosive scandal in football." Zeman said. "But the bigger a sport is. the greater the dangers.

"I know a lot of doctors who have moved on from cycling to lOviLail and 1 know many Serie A clubs who use pharmacological products. We have to make

sure the championship doesn’t become like the Tour de France.”

Zeman said that he had been sent a brochure for a substance which claimed to Increase performances by 50 per cent.

"Perhaps these medicines don't cause any damage now. but who can rule out the possibility of damage being done in the years to come?" he asked.

"And if the risk is there, then we have to Intervene now and not wait until the swelling bursts open."

The Czech coach went on: "The problem is that players are only concerned about their interests here and now, and they don't worry about their health. And club executives only want to get the most out of them, and they are not too subtle about the way they go about it."

As for Italy's footballing officialdom. he wondered aloud: "Is it possible that these problems are not discussed within the federation?"

The coach had hinted at drugs use last month, and saw his comments draw an angry

response from Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara, who claimed it was just Zeman's way of nailing any rumours over drug use.

Zeman rounded on the Turin club, saying how surprised he was at the muscle development of some of its star players in recent years.

"It s just an amazing thing that starts with Gianluca VialB and has now reached Alessandro Del Piero." he said.

"I’ve played a number of sports and I thought that certain results you could only get from bodybuilding, after years and years of a specific kind of training.

"And I'm convinced that football is a very different kind of activity — at feast my kind of football is, one that I would call positive."

Zeman warned: "The pressure on footballers is continually increasing, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to resist the temptation of the magic pill. I might be a romantic, and think that laps around a football field count for more than chemicals, but I'm not naive.

"I know that many players in the Serie A perhaps even at AS Roma, can't say 'no' to certain substances."

Adding a historical perspective. he said: "Peopfe knew about Maradona's drug problem when Napoli bought him from Barcelona...and I would like to remind Ferrara that if others had not turned a blind eye, that if someone had taken his addiction seriously, the sad fall could have been avoided.

"But today, business is what counts most." Zeman added. "The world of football is dominated by finance, even more than by chemists."