FOOTBALL: DRUG STORM

THREE of the Premiership's top young players are at the centre of a new drugs storm.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Viana from Newcastle and Spurs' Helder Postiga could all be involved in court action in France.

They refused to take a drugs test in Paris on Tuesday, along with the entire Portugal Under-21 squad.

The team allegedly trashed their changing room after winning their UEFA Under-21 play-off against France on penalties.

Syringes were found in the debris after the Portuguese left.

"What they did was unspeakable," said Raymond Domenech, the French coach. "You couldn't take it in. The place was totally wrecked.

"Can you connect that to the syringes we found afterwards and to their refusal to take a drug test? It raises many questions."

The row with French government officials could even affect next summer's European Championship, which is being staged in Portugal.

Drug testing in French sport has been handled by the police and government authorities ever since the Tour de France doping scandal five years ago.

New laws were passed to make using performance-enhancing drugs a criminal offence.

There are also strict legal penalties for sportsmen who avoid drug tests. While the Portuguese FA has apologised for the damage in the dressing room, it says its players were within their rights to refuse to take part in local doping controls.

But the French sports ministry has demanded action from UEFA, European football's ruling body.

The French sports ministry has already filed a report about the missed drug tests - naming the entire Portugal squad - to the local prosecutors' office, saying it "could constitute an offence under the local public health code".

Foreign sportsmen and women can be subject to bans from competing in France if found guilty of breaking the law.

That could see Ronaldo barred from playing in Lyon or Monaco if his club is drawn against either side in the later stages of the Champions' League.

The Portuguese prodigy's absence is unlikely to be felt as deeply by United as the potential ban hanging over Rio Ferdinand after he missed a drug test in September.

And Arne Ljungqvist, one of the world's leading experts on anti- doping policy, believes the FA will be sending out the wrong message if they do not suspend Ferdinand for a "substantial" time.

The Swede said: "I've seen nothing but the clear refusal of Ferdinand giving a doping sample.

"We will have to wait and see what they deliver and if it is not substantial have them clearly explain why they have done this. A minimum sentence would send out a very strange message."

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