Dominguez denies dope trafficking

World steeplechase champion Marta Dominguez has denied involvement in a major sports doping scandal in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE.

Dominguez was one of 14 people detained by police on December 9. She was allowed to go home the same evening under suspicion of a public health crime related to doping substances.

The 35-year-old, who is not taking part in the 2011 season because she is pregnant, is expected to be questioned by a judge presiding over the investigation this week.

“Who could believe I would be trafficking in doping substances? Of course I have never trafficked in doping substances,” she told EFE in a written interview published in the press yesterday.

Dominguez said no-one had informed her of any evidence against her, and the police had told her on December 9 that she was simply a witness in the proceedings.

“Who decided, and for what reason, that I would go from being a witness to being accused of a crime if in my home they did not find any banned substance?” she asked.

“I can only trust that the judge will analyse the whole case coldly and put an end to all this.”