AS.com

Ten members of Real Sociedad's Board of Directors during the time of Iñaki Badiola's presidency, between January and December 2008, have distanced themselves from the comments made by the ex-President, who accused the club of having acquired Performance Enhancing Drugs in seasons prior to his period in charge.

The ex-directors also stated, in a communication, that they rejected any responsibility for the release of documents relating to board meetings or the management of the club. The comments were made in response to a video, published by this newspaper, of a board meeting in 2008, in which then president Badiola informed his fellow directors of the existence of payments made to Eufemiano Fuentes, the doctor at the centre of the Operation Puerto doping case. Spanish newspaper 'El País' also published an e-mail sent by one of the club's doctors in which he mentioned the acquisition of various pharmaceuticals.

With the appearance of the initials 'Rsoc' in the papers of Eufemiano Fuentes, ex-president Badiola revealed that, according to an investigation he had ordered, Real Sociedad had bought the doping products from the Fuentes, using off-the-record payments.

The ex-board members have queried the "timeliness" of the release of the documentation, at the same time as they lamented the "use that is being made of it". The communication was signed by: Txomin Andonegi, Luis Antoñana, Fernando Antúnez, Martin Arregi, Juan José Bueno, Mónica Fanlo, Iñaki Iraola, Jon Loidi, Alejandro Naya and Beatriz Ugarte.