Festina affair

Festina affair
Native name	affaire Festina
Date	July 8, 1998 – July 17, 2001
Location	Initially at Neuville-en-Ferrain, near Lille, France–Belgium border;; Then throughout France including Cholet, Albertville, Toulouse and Metz;
Type	Use of erythropoietin (EPO) and other substances during the 1998 Tour de France
Theme	Doping scandal
Participants	Festina cycling team; Laurent Brochard; Laurent Dufaux; Pascal Hervé; Armin Meier; Christophe Moreau; Neil Stephens; Richard Virenque; Alex Zülle; ; TVM cycling team;
Accused	Richard Virenque; (Festina cyclist; cleared from the criminal charge of "inciting the administration of doping and masking products to others and complicity in the importation of drugs"); Dr Eric Rijkaert; (Former Festina doctor; charges dropped due to ill health);
Convicted	Willy Voet; (Festina soigneur); Bruno Roussel; (Festina Directeur sportif); Jef d'Hont; (La Française des Jeux soigneur); Jean Dalibot; (former Festina soigneur); Joel Chabiron; (Festina communication officer); Christine and Éric Paranier; (Pharmacists); Dr Nicolas Terrados; (Team ONCE doctor); Cees Priem; (TVM Directeur sportif); Andrei Mikhailov; (TVM doctor); Jan Moors; (TVM soigneur);
Sentence	Voet: 10-month suspended sentence; fined F30,000; Roussel: 1-year suspended sentence; fined F50,000; d'Hont: nine-month suspended sentence; fined F20,000; Dalibot: five-month suspended sentence; Chabiron: five-month suspended sentence; C. Paranier: fined F30,000;; É. Paranier: fined F10,000; Terrados: fined F30,000; Priem: 18-month suspended sentence; fined F80,000; Mikhailov: 1-year suspended sentence; fined F60,000; Moors: six-month suspended sentence; fined F40,000;
Suspensions	Virenque: nine-month ban by the Swiss cycling federation and fined CHF4,000

The Festina affair was a series of doping scandals within the sport of professional cycling that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a support car belonging to the Festina cycling team just before the start of the race. A resulting investigation revealed systematic doping involving many teams in the Tour de France. Hotels where teams were staying were raided and searched by police, confessions were made by several retired and current riders, and team personnel were arrested or detained. Several teams withdrew completely from the race.

By December 2000, all nine Festina riders had confessed to using erythropoietin (EPO) and other substances during the 1998 Tour de France, and suspended sentences ranging from 5–12 months were handed out to Festina soigneur Willy Voet, Festina manager Bruno Roussel, La Française des Jeux soigneur Jef d'Hont, former Festina soigneur Jean Dalibot, and Festina communication officer Joel Chabiron. The two accused pharmacists, Éric Paranier and Christine Paranier, along with Team ONCE physician Nicolás Terrados, were only given fines, while the case against Festina doctor Eric Rijckaert was dropped because of his deteriorating health.

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