The Manchester United legends accused Italian clubs of doping

Former Manchester United players Gary Neville and Roy Keane have asserted that, in their view, certain Italian clubs were "not clean" in the 2000s and were engaged in doping. The United legends disclosed this while appearing on the Stick To Football podcast.

During the tenure of these footballers at United, the Mancunians encountered Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, AS Roma, and Lazio in European competitions.

“There are a couple that stick in my mind,’ he said. I think there were a few teams that we played against that weren’t clean. I came off the pitch against an Italian team and thought, “that’s not right”. I’m sorry. I know that a couple of the other lads mid-2000s thought exactly the same thing.”recalled Neville.

“When we played certain teams I would be walking off and you were absolutely shattered. I remember it. I would be looking at the players I played against, a couple of the Italian teams, and they looked like they’d not even played a match. Why can’t we talk about that? We’re not naming names or clubs.” said Keane.

In the early 2000s, Italian football faced accusations of doping. Particularly in 2004, a Juventus team doctor was found guilty of distributing performance-enhancing drugs following a judicial investigation into his medical practices from 1994 to 1998 and was sentenced to a suspended prison term.