Ferrara

A criminal court in northern Italy has found Francesco Conconi, rector of Ferrara University, responsible for giving performance-enhancing drugs to athletes. But it acquitted him under a statute of limitations because the offences were committed in the 1980s and early 1990s. Professor Conconi and two assistants were accused of having closely supervised athletes practising self-transfusion and using EPO, a drug that stimulates the production of red blood cells.