http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20864596-5006069,00.html
SHANE Warne has been dragged into a fresh drug controversy with world anti-doping boss Dick Pound virtually accusing him of taking steroids when he was suspended for taking a "fluid tablet" in 2003.
"The diuretic was a masking agent that
could have hidden the possible use of steroids that would help the injury cure faster.
He had returned to play almost twice as quickly as the experts had predicted."
He initially declared his intention to fight the ban but later changed his mind, saying it was the Australian way to "take it in the chin".
However it had also emerged that apart from having the ban downgraded when the appeal went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he could have had it increased to the two-year ban considered mandatory around the world.
Cricket Australia had described his testimony – and that of his mother – as "vague and inconsistent".
Warne denied taking steroids at the time of his bust, claiming: "I feel I am a victim of the anti-doping hysteria."
Pound insists sport must take a stand against drug cheats.
"The rules are all pretty clear and the rules are being broken deliberately and that has to be confronted," he said.
"It is the biggest issue facing sport.
"If it doesn't get better, parents are going to stop putting their kids in competitive sport.
"It is a matter of cheating. If you are using these drugs, you are cheating."
Among the other "worst excuses" Pound lists are Cuban high-jumper Javier Sotomayor, who blamed a CIA plot for the drug bust that ended his career, and US sprinter Dennis Mitchell, who blamed his high testosterone levels on drinking beer and rampant *** with his wife.