Rome, July 16: Ben Johnson, stripped of his 100 metres gold medal for using drugs at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, has been putting the players of Italian club Perugia through their paces ahead of Saturday's Uefa Intertoto Cup match. The 42-year-old Canadian appeared at the team's summer training camp in Folgaria on Monday and took the squad through a series of sprint exercises alongside Perugia coach Serse Cosmi.
Jamaican-born Johnson is believed to have been asked to help the club because of his relationship with Perugia's new signing Saadi Kadhafi. Saadi, son of Libyan leader Moamer, was trained by Johnson for a three month spell in Tripoli three years ago in order to get him fit enough for the rigours of professional football.
Kadhafi Jr., 30, signed a one-year contract with Perugia last month. A Libyan international, Saadi owns a small stake in Serie A champions Juventus and was linked with a move to buy cash-strapped Rome giants Lazio earlier this year.
Perugia host Finnish side Allianssi on Saturday in the first leg of their Intertoto Cup third round match. Bureau Report