Steroid scandal rocks Canadian university

The University of Waterloo has suspended its football program for a year in the wake of a steroids scandal.

Head coach Dennis McPhee and his staff have been placed on paid “administrative leave,” it was announced this morning at a news conference at the university.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and the university revealed that nine UW players tested positive for steroid use.

Bob Copeland, the university’s athletic director, said the program has been suspended while the school conducts an internal review. Larry Gravill, retired chief of the Waterloo Regional Police, will lead the review.

“We need to take a step backward before we can move forward,” Copeland said.

Only two players with positive tests – linebackers Joe Surgenor and Jordon Meredith – were named because they signed waivers indicating they don’t want a hearing before the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the body that conducted the tests. The two players were given two-year suspensions.

The other seven players who tested positive can’t be named because they haven’t completed the centre’s drug testing process. They can request that a B sample be tested, and if those results turn up positive, they can request a hearing.

The scandal broke this spring when Warriors receiver Nathan Zettler was arrested for possession and trafficking of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone. The school immediately ordered the entire team of 65 members to be tested.

Never before had an active Canadian university athlete been accused of selling illegal drugs, making this Canadian university sport’s biggest drug scandal in history.

During an investigation for breaking and entering, police say they discovered several thousand vials, pills and capsules at Zettler’s home.

The quantity of banned substances police uncovered sparked concerns that a pipeline was fuelling additional football teams in the Ontario University Athletics conference.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport also decided to test football players at Wilfrid Laurier, the University of Guelph and at McMaster University in Hamilton.

The news conference revealed there were no adverse results at Guelph and McMaster. Players at Wilfrid Laurier were not tested due to a mixup in the players’ practice time.

Zettler, a 23-year-old receiver, was charged in April with trafficking anabolic steroids and HGH. He also faces five counts of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property and breaching a probation order.

His UW teammate, Matthew Valeriote, 24, of Waterloo, and a former teammate, Eric Legare, 26, also of Waterloo, were also charged in connection with the case. Zettler was released on $30,000 bail.