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Doctor who 'doped 140 sports stars' axed from clinic

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has ordered an inquiry into the UK anti-doping watchdog over allegations it knew a doctor had been prescribing banned performance-enhancing drugs to leading athletes.

According to The Sunday Times, Dr Mark Bonar was secretly filmed describing how he had prescribed the drugs to sports stars including Premier League footballers.

The paper said the publically-funded UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) had been passed information about Dr Bonar's alleged activities two years ago.

Dr Bonar's services at his clinic meanwhile were terminated after it was revealed he does not have a licence to practise medicine in the UK.

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Ukad: 'Deeply concerned and shocked' by doping claims

The UK Anti-Doping watchdog (Ukad) has said it is "deeply concerned and shocked" by the claims a British doctor has doped sports stars.

The Sunday Times reported that Dr Mark Bonar had been secretly filmed discussing prescribing banned performance-enhancing drugs to the "elite" sports professionals.

Ukad chief executive, Nicole Sapstead, confirmed the publicly-funded body had received allegations involving Dr Bonar in April and May 2014 during interviews with an unnamed sportsman.

Following those interviews and an investigation, UKAD found that there was nothing to indicate that Dr Bonar was governed by a sport and UKAD had no other intelligence to corroborate the sportsman's allegations.

– Nicole Sapstead, Ukad chief executive

Chairman David Kenworthy said an independent review of the allegations against it would be conducted "as soon as possible", to examine the information passed to them in 2014 and to discern if the proper procedures were followed.

"Ukad is a publicly funded body and it is correct that it be held to account for any actions it takes. That accountability rests with the independent board," he added.

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Doctor who 'doped 140 sports stars' axed from clinic

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