... the carabinieri received a confidential report from the Swiss anti-doping agency, Stiftung Antidoping Schweiz, arising from reports submitted through the whistleblowing platform: these reports spoke not only of prohibited substances but also of a system involving psychological pressure, harassment, and improper financial demands on athletes.
The collected testimonies were confirmed during the investigations: an organized mechanism emerged for recruiting riders who were without contracts or considered to have insufficient technical levels. Athletes were registered through a shell company based in Ireland, but only on the condition that they advance money or commit to returning part of their salaries. In some cases, as documented in the files, athletes were provided, always for a fee, with a professional license obtained through corrupt methods from compliant foreign federations, simulating residency transfers that never actually occurred.
From the documents, it emerges clearly that the "pay-to-race" was not an isolated episode, but a system designed to fuel two parallel drifts: on one side, the entry into professionalism of athletes lacking the necessary qualities, who were then forced to resort to doping to maintain competitive levels; on the other, the so-called "financial doping", with companies that, despite lacking resources for real contracts, managed to guarantee visibility and access to sponsorships. Crucial during the investigations was the collaboration provided by the International Cycling Union, which made available data and evidence to reconstruct the case.
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