Basso faces FCI Disciplinary Commission

The Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) Disciplinary Commission has set the date for Ivan Basso's proceedings, Friday, June 15, 12:30, at the Olympic Stadium Federal Office in Rome. The FCI Disciplinarily Commission will act upon the recommendations of the Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) anti-doping prosecutors, headed by Ettore Torri. On May 25, CONI recommended that the FCI suspend the 29 year-old rider for 21 months.

Basso, who admitted his involvement with Spanish Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, met with Torri on three occasions early last month (three hearings, May 2, May 7 and May 10). The rider known as 'Birillo' and number '2' in Fuentes' documents faces a suspension and the possible stripping of his 2006 Giro victory.

In the May 7 hearing he admitted to working with Fuentes but, a day later, he publicly watered-down his admission. "It was only attempted doping," he commented in a conference room full of journalists and photographers in Milan. He claimed to not have ever used the extracted blood found in Fuentes' labs. "I never used the blood in Madrid," he noted.