Steeplechase Simon Vroemen tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid metandienone or methandienone after qualifying for the Beijing Olympics for the Netherlands. Vroemen has strongly denied doping. However, the positive steroid test looks more suspicious after news reports make allegations of a Dutch Track and Field Association doping cover up involving Vroemen at the 2006 European Championships in Sweden (”Dutch Track & Field Association actively involved in covering up doping violation,” November 27).

Dutch Track & Field Association has willingly covered up a doping violation of steeple chaser Simon Vroemen during the European Championships in 2006 in Götheborg. Bram Wassenaar, head coach for long distance running, has confirmed this. Simon Vroemen used an illegal drip but got ill from this and had to withdraw from the finals. The use of a drip is forbidden since january 1st 2005 and is sanctioned with a two year suspension.

Representatives of the Dutch federation where informed about this violation from the beginning but decided to go public with a false statement about food poisoning. After the incident was published last summer the federation still claimed they were not informed. They could only hunch what happened in Sweden but had no real facts, the federation stated. But in fact the federation took a leading role during the whole incident and willingly tried to cover it up.

Simon Vroemen maintains he never used any illegal performance enhancing drug making a distinction between illegal steroids and illegal glucose drip.

At least I didn’t use any illegal substance,’ says Vroemen who reminds us that during the 2004 Olympics the use of a glucose drip was still allowed.