Jaap Stam tests positive for nandrolone

Lazio's Dutch international Jaap Stam has tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) said on Friday.

Former Manchester United defender Stam has been suspended with immediate effect pending a disciplinary hearing on Saturday at 1330 GMT.

CONI said in a press statement that Stam had tested positive in samples given after the Serie A match between Lazio and Atalanta on October 13.

"I cannot believe what's happened and feel sick at the suggestion I would take drugs," Stam, 29, is quoted as saying in a statement reported in Saturday's edition of Britain's Sun newspaper.

"I do not know why the test should come out positive and I am in a state of shock.

"One thing I can say without hesitation or doubt is I have never knowingly taken nandrolone or any other illegal substance.

"I am not -- and have never been -- a cheat and would never do anything like this to jeopardise the happiness of my family or the future of my career.

"It is ridiculous to suggest that I would whatever the results say.

CONI, which is responsible for monitoring drugs in Italian sport, said that under new doping rules brought in for this season a player is now considered positive on the basis of a single test.

Only if the player requests a second test will one be carried out.

CONI said the test on Stam's sample was carried out by their laboratory in Rome.

PERPLEXED

Stam, who joined Lazio from Manchester United for 15.2 million pounds ($21.7 million) in August, was quoted in Saturday's edition of Britain's Mirror newspaper as saying he found out about the positive test from Dutch journalists.

"I can declare with my hand on my heart that I have no knowledge of taking any supplement that would have brought me into this very difficult situation," he says in The Mirror.

"Nor have I had even a vague indication of any risks concerning doping. I find it astonishing and sad that I had to find out about this through Dutch journalists.

The Sun quotes Stam as saying: "At this stage I must search for information because I have heard nothing through official channels. I have not been contacted by the Italian Olympic Committee or any other authorities."

Lazio's medical chief Andrea Campi was perplexed by the CONI announcement, saying Stam had tested negative during an in-house test just four days after the Atalanta match.

"We are all very surprised at this news. Our players, and above all one like the Dutchman, use mineral salts and medicines which are totally certified according to the codes set out by CONI," Campi told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Campi said that four days after the Atalanta match 10 Lazio players had undergone an unannounced random doping test by a CONI team who visited the club's Formello training ground.

Stam was not among the 10 but Lazio then carried out their own tests on all their players and the results from a laboratory in Milan were all negative, said Campi.

Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti, whose side have struggled for form this season, gave Stam his backing.

"This season started badly and is getting worse. However I believe in the good faith of Jaap Stam," said Cragnotti who added he felt the news was "strange" given the club's own negative tests four days after the game.

Lazio are currently 10th in Serie A and were eliminated from the Champions League after the first group stage.

DOPING CASES

Last season saw a spate of doping cases in Italian football with Lazio defender Fernando Couto and Juventus's Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids among those suspended after testing positive. On appeal, their bans were cut to four months.

Stam's fellow Dutch defender Frank de Boer, who plays for Barcelona, also tested positive for nandrolone in March but a year's ban imposed in June was slashed in July, allowing him to play from September.

UEFA's appeals body said it was "more than likely" that contaminated food supplements had caused his positive test.

Stam was quoted in Saturday's Sun as saying: "Although I have never done anything wrong, I am very worried. I know both Davids and De Boer were banned after taking the same tests but I also know they were both innocent."

In The Mirror he says: "I am concerned that this is the third person from the Dutch squad that this has happened to.

"Frank and Edgar know what it is like to go through a nightmare like this and I hope I can learn from them."