(IPYS/IFEX) – On 9 April 2008, athlete Henderson Ramírez made a threatening telephone call to journalist Mariela Escola, public relations director of the state of Mérida’s Sports and Recreation Foundation, after she released information indicating he had engaged in doping during the 2007 Llanos National Sports Games, in which he won a gold medal in […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – On 9 April 2008, athlete Henderson Ramírez made a threatening telephone call to journalist Mariela Escola, public relations director of the state of Mérida’s Sports and Recreation Foundation, after she released information indicating he had engaged in doping during the 2007 Llanos National Sports Games, in which he won a gold medal in bodybuilding.
The journalist stated that the athlete threatened to harm her and file a suit against her for having “exposed him to public scorn.”
Escola had sent a press release to Mérida’s newspapers in which she published the official results of the anti-doping tests administered in December 2007 to four bodybuilding athletes by the Federation. The regional newspapers then reported on the results.
IPYS spoke to the athlete, who denied Escola’s accusations. He maintained that he telephoned the journalist to ask her if she had written the press release. “I also told her that she might face a lawsuit for placing my photograph next to the information,” he stated.
