Prosecutor says Juventus' doping was premeditated

The prosecutor in the appeals trial of the Juventus doctor convicted for administering banned substances said Wednesday that doping by the Serie A club was premeditated.

Club physician Riccardo Agricola was given a suspended sentence of 22 months in November 2004 for providing drugs, including the banned hormone EPO, to Juventus' players from 1994-98.

"It was not an occasional administration, but the creation of a real chemist shop at the service of the athletes," general prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Prosecutors are requesting Agricola's sentence be increased to three years and two months and that club chairman Antonio Giraudo, who was acquitted, be convicted and given a two-year sentence.

Cesare Zaccone, one of Juventus' defense lawyers, said that Guariniello's "arguments had been already swept away in the previous trial."

The appeals trial was adjourned to Dec. 14. The court will either issue a sentence or accept defense lawyers' demands for more reports from experts.

Between 1994-98, Juventus won three Italian league titles, one Champions League title and the Intercontinental Cup, AP reported. V.A.