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"Soccer has sold its soul to the devil"

Following allegations levelled by A S Roma coach Zdenek Zeman, Italian soccer bosses are scheduled to meet in early September to examine the problem of doping in Serie A soccer.

Two meetings have been scheduled, involving federation officials, doctors, doping experts and health officials from all the major teams, on September 1 and 7.

The idea, said the Italian football federation in a statement, are intended to work out more effective control measures.

Zeman, with 17 seasons of experience behind him with various Serie A clubs, has actually named names of players he alleges are into doping, one of them being a current Juventus player who, in turn, is suing him for "unacceptable damage" to his reputation.

The coach says that soccer has sold its soul to drugs and that increasingly, players in Serie A have been taking performance enhancing drugs to make up for lack of preparation.

The manager of Juventus has condemned the allegations as sensational, and said the club would decide on what action to take against the coach.

The Italian soccer players' union has also blasted the coach, condemning his allegation as an attempt to besmirch players.

The players union pointed out that footballers themselves have been seeking tighter controls, including the introduction of blood tests.

Just about the only support for Zeman came from Sandro Donati, head of the Italian Olympic Committee's research department, who had earlier alleged widespread doping in Italian cycling.

Another ally has surfaced in Bologna coach Carlo Mazzone, who said "he (Zeman) knows what he is talking about, everyone in soccer knows (about doping), even those who pretend not to. We need an inquiry."