More than 30 names ID’d in Puerto case

More names linked to the Operación Puerto doping scandal from a decade ago could be soon released.

According to a story in the Spanish daily El País, officials have used DNA to link blood samples to 20 cyclists and more than 10 other track and field athletes linked to the Spanish doping ring organized by Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes and others.

Sources told El País that the World Anti-Doping Agency’s lab in Lausanne, Switzerland have ID’d some 30 additional names linked to Puerto, and could soon reveal their identities.

Spanish courts released upwards of 200 bags of blood and plasma to anti-doping officials last summer, which moved to learn the identity of their respective owners.

Officials at governing bodies, however, have been juggling with legal questions about whether or not they have the authority to reveal the names, especially since WADA’s eight-year statute of limitation has already passed on the case dating back to 2006, but the news could cause more than a few to have restless nights.