On Monday the case against Eufemiano Fuentes and five others go to trial. However, only clients and evidence from cycling will be presented, and that frustrates WADA.

Detectives in Spain have been gathering evidence from all over Europe about Dr Eufemiano Fuentes, but despite Fuentes freely admitting to working with professional footballers and tennis players as well as cyclists, the Spanish authorities have ruled that the case will only cover his involvement in cycling.

“We have been banging our heads against a brick wall to get access to the evidence that was gathered,” Dave Howman, WADA’s director general, said according to the british newspaper, TheTelegraph. “It is not only frustrating and disappointing but it also means that many athletes who might be dirty have been allowed to compete,” he added.

Spanish police seized more than two hundred bags of blood labelled with code names. Fifty-four cyclists were implicated in the doping ring, but only few of them were actually suspended and penalized. There were no cases against athletes from other sports.

“We were always told that the patients this man was treating were across a number of sports so it was disappointing that cycling was the only sport isolated,” Howman said.

According to Jörg Jaksche, Fuentes boasted about his work with other sportsmen, and he said that German police suspected Fuentes may have been working with footballers at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

“Yes, for sure he was involved (with other sports) and when he talked about it he was quite proud. If you watch the videos made by the police during the raid at one stage they open the fridge and pull out blood bags. They have certain code names written on them, but these names never appear in the report, and I think there is a big cover-up by the Spanish government. There is no interest from on high in too much information coming out,” Jaksche told The Telegraph.

Because of the legal situation at the time, Fuentes is not being tried for doping offences. He is facing charges of breaking public health laws, with the authorities alleging that the transfusions were not carried out with the appropriate medical facilities. Several riders will appear as witnesses.