Alright, before anybody else nearly has a heart attack when they see the name “Totti” and the word “doping” in the same headline, listen up: HE’S NOT.

Apparently, the doping case against him has been dropped.

About now, if you’re saying, “Totti? Doping case? What doping case?” don’t feel bad, because I most definitely had no idea either (hence my heart jumping into my throat).

Here’s the lowdown: Il Capitano showed up to a routine test late on May 13th, and somebody – I don’t know who, but somebody – whispered into an ear / sent an e-mail / made a call, or jumped the gun in some other way, and the subject inquiry was the apparent result. Anyway, as it turns out, he was late because his second child, Chanel was born that day.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d say that’s a pretty damn good reason to be late.

Nonetheless, the investigation went forward, and despite the really, really iron-clad alibi, it can be opened up if any doping evidence comes to light.

I’ll go on-record right now and say that if “evidence” does surface, my first thought will be that someone is out to get Francesco Totti. (No, I mean someone other than the guys who have to mark him.)

Until now, Il Capitano has never had his name mentioned in reference to the use of drugs, so the fact that a baseless, sensationalist case like this made the news just irks the hell out of me, especially since Italian soccer has struggled to clean up its reputation following calciopoli.

Categories: Roma
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