Yankees Player Confesses Having Used Drugs
New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with federal agents probing a Florida anti-aging clinic at the center of baseball’s doping scandal, the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday.
The admission, if true, represents an about-turn for Rodriguez who has repeatedly denied the use of banned substances from the Miami-area Biogenesis clinic, even as he concluded last week a one-year suspension by Major League Baseball for violating the sport’s doping program.
But speaking to federal authorities in January, Rodriguez, known in the baseball world as A-Rod, admitted to buying and using hormone-filled syringes and creams from the clinic, the Herald reported, citing a 15-page summary of the meeting.
His New York-based attorney, Joseph Tacopina, would not comment on the report, saying, “Grand jury secrecy law, which appears to have been violated, prevents me from answering one way or the other.”
The slugger, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, told authorities he first met the clinic owner when trying to lose weight in the summer of 2010 and struggling with a knee injury, the newspaper said.
Under his direction, Rodriguez injected human growth hormones into his stomach to help with “sleep, weight, hair growth, eyesight and muscle recovery,” the Herald reported.
Rodriguez confessed to using various testosterone-laced products, the paper said, including lozenges known as “gummies.”
Rodriguez, 39, was recently reinstated by the Yankees and may move from third base to first base in the coming season.
Denisha Sahadevan
