Laurent Benezech, the retired French rugby player who blew the whistle on the doping culture in French rugby in the '90s, has told Balls.ie he was not surprised by the reports today that prosecutors had launched an investigation into pharmacies that were allegedly supplying Toulon players with banned substances.
Benezech raised the spectre of a systemic doping culture in European rugby last winter and he read today's report with extreme interest. Toulon have dominated European rugby this decade, with the likes of Juan Smith and Bakkies Botha of South Africa lighting up French club rugby.
"I have no evidence that there are, for example, EPO injections in world rugby but on the other hand, when you see certain performances on the pitch, it's impossible to say that it doesn't exist in world rugby," he said.
Speaking to Balls.ie today, he slammed the system the French system for treating injured rugby players and said it is wide open to abuse - by both players and clubs - should they be inclined to using performance enhancing drugs.
This system is supposed to be making everyone's life easier by leaving the drug store to deal with the administrative inconveniences, but then you see the way the club deals with the medical issues of the players. It's a system which is completely unprofessional which is open to abuses by players and the club.
At 12.00am, the club moved to clarify that none of their players were caught up in the doping scandal and that the investigation related to the pharmacy engaging in a health service scam rather than a doping scandal involving Toulon.
This is a case of fraud with regards to social security, using fake prescriptions. There are no players involved in the AFLD investigation and by the courts. The club has not been questioned and is not concerned.
There is a pharmacist who had worked with us since 2006. When we heard about what he was doing, we stopped working with him. We have a doctor who for a number of years always unfortunately leaves two or three empty prescriptions in case of emergencies... and the details of the social security cards of the players.
How can RTL publish information on organised doping? It's extremely serious. When you want to buy doping products, you don't take your social security card and go to a chemist, it would be stupid to do that. The journalist didn't do a proper investigation.
He says one has to split the story into it's two component parts - the part concerning the pharmacy allegedly gaming the French healthcare system and the wider issue of doping in French rugby.
It's a big story about a drug store in Toulon trying to play with the health system to make money from sales they haven't done by declaring they had sold stuff they hadn't. And that's part of it, which has nothing to do with rugby.
In the middle of that there is also the rugby situation. They were the official Toulon rugby club drug store for a certain period of time until last year, and apparently, the players left the health system cards at the pharmacy and the pharmacy also had blank prescriptions from the club doctor, which is illegal.
If it was only about selling paracetamol it can be sort of accepted, except you don't know...
And obviously, there is the very legal thing about giving to a pharmacist a blank prescription where anybody can put what they want on it.
The pharmacy was able to put anything they want on it and then get reimbursed for it.
Benezech's own experience is instructive in this regard. He played for France during 1994 and 1995 (defeating New Zealand at the end of 1994) and playing in the 1995 World Cup. He has testified that he was given a cortisone injection at a time when there was no medical reason to give him one.
Benezech described how a cortisone shot was given to him on the grounds that it would aid his 'recovery'.
Read more: It's Fair To Say Toulon Are Not Exactly Happy With Those Doping Reports
