A Portuguese court has handed down effective prison sentences to the two senior figures behind the W52-FC Porto doping scheme, marking a rare judicial outcome in cycling’s long battle with doping offences involving team management.
On December 12, as reported by Jornal de Notícias, the Penafiel Court sentenced team owner Adriano Quintanilha and sports director Nuno Ribeiro to four years and nine months effective prison each, after the court found that they had orchestrated a systematic doping programme that ran through the Continental squad from at least 2020.
The presiding judge stated that "practically all the facts [of the MP accusation] were proven," and ruled that "the gravity of the facts does not allow us to suspend these penalties."
Accountant Hugo Veloso received a three-year-four-month suspended sentence. Of 26 defendants in the Operação Prova Limpa case, 24 were convicted, with most receiving suspended terms or fines. The originating club, Associação Calvário Várzea, was fined €57,000 and banned from competitions for four years.
The court found that Quintanilha funded the purchase of prohibited substances and held final decision-making power over the scheme. Ribeiro procured, distributed and instructed riders on the use of an extensive pharmacological arsenal including betamethasone, somatropin, TB-500, insulin and AICAR. Evidence from raids in April 2022 included syringes, blood bags and the substances themselves.
The verdict is Portugal's first effective prison term for cycling team executives, a rarity in a sport where bans typically fall on athletes rather than management. While the court panel noted that "Nuno Ribeiro did not use authority to force cyclists to dope," the court characterised riders as both culpable and, in structural terms, the "weakest link" in a hierarchy that normalised performance-enhancing practices.
W52-FC Porto dominated Portuguese cycling before its collapse, winning five consecutive Volta a Portugal general classifications between 2016 and 2020. The UCI revoked the team's licence in July 2022 following the raids, and the squad disbanded at season's end.
Ribeiro's legal team announced an immediate appeal, and Quintanilha is expected to follow suit. Appeals must be filed within 30 days, and a higher court could alter the sentences. The Portuguese cycling federation is pursuing indemnity from the convicted parties.
Cover image credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
