Conte’s drug past revisited in ongoing Mourinho spat

09 gen 2018

The long simmering, and seemingly never ending, rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte took a dark turn on Tuesday when the Italian tactician’s history of drug use was thrown into the cauldron. Though it was not directly brought up by the Manchester United manager, considering the source, it may as well have been.

Portuguese journalist Eládio Paramés, who is widely known as Mourinho’s ‘spin-doctor,’ wrote an article in the national outlet Record. In it, he weighs in on the war of words, and brings up Conte’s dark past.

“Sr. Conte, sabe or que é a EPO,” he asks the Chelsea manager. “Mr. Conte, do you remember the EPO case?”

Two years after Conte captained Juventus to Champions League glory in 1996, an investigation into illegal doping was launched in Turin. During a raid on Juventus’ training ground, some 281 different types of drugs were found.

Among the players who admitted to taking a series of drugs was current Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane. However, Conte has never admitted to taking drugs whilst at Juventus.

It’s unclear how, or if, the Italian will respond to the inflammatory article.