NFL to interview four players named in report alleging doping
Saturday 23 July 2016 08:45, UK
The NFL has rejected written statements from four players named in a report alleging use of performance-enhancing drugs as sufficient cooperation, and will need to interview them, the league said on its website on Friday.
Pittsburgh's James Harrison and Green Bay players Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal have reportedly given written statements regarding a December report by Al Jazeera America that they received the illegal drugs from an anti-aging clinic.
But the NFL will require in-person interviews, beginning with Neal, and plans to speak to Harrison, Matthews and Peppers on the first day of their respective training camps.
The Al Jazeera report cited a former unpaid Guyer Institute intern pharmacist, Charlie Sly, who allegedly spoke to an undercover reporter working for the network.
Sly later recanted his statements about the players receiving the drugs, and Harrison claimed to have never met him in an affidavit obtained earlier this month.
The NFL Players Association has argued that there should be no need to interview someone based on an allegation that has no proven merit.
