MLB Clears both Zimmerman and Howard of PED Allegations

Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman and Philadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Howard were both cleared of allegations they had used performance enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball found those allegations not to be true.

Pharmacist Charlie Sly had claimed in a documentary by Al-Jazeera America called “The Dark Side,” which was first broadcast last December that both players had used banned PED’s.

Through just a brief statement on Friday, the league said the investigation it carried out did not find any violations by Zimmerman or Howard of the league’s drug policy.

MLB announced that the players had cooperated fully with the investigation, but that Sly had not.

Zimmerman and Howard have denied Sly’s allegations and both this past January filed suit against Al-Jazeera America, its reporter Deborah Davies and Liam James Collins a former hurdler, who helped with the reporting of the documentary.

The lawsuits, filed in Washington D.C., claim invasion of privacy and defamation.

In a prepared statement, Howard said the Al-Jazeera allegations came from nowhere and he was shocked as well as outraged by the false claims.

At first, Al-Jazeera America claimed in a written report that the two might have used a human growth hormone. Following that, they changed the written report to Delta 2 a banned steroid, conforming to its documentary broadcast.

Each of the defendants requested that the court dismiss the lawsuits.

Zimmerman said that he has been true to himself, his family, the Nationals and his community and it was not correct a news organization could make such false claims that then damage his reputation and call into question his integrity without any consequence.

Both of the players confirmed they would be pressing forward with clams of defamation filed in court.

Zimmerman, prior to his game on Friday against Atlanta, said the whole point he filed his lawsuit was to make sure people could not smear someone’s name without evidence or any proof. He added that his lawsuit would continue.

Former catcher in the major leagues Taylor Teagarden, who was another player that the report by Al-Jazeera implicated, was suspended in April for 80 games.

The same report implicated players in the NFL such as Clay Matthews, Peyton Manning, James Harrison, Mike Neal and Julius Peppers.

Manning, who has since retired, was cleared by NFL officials following an investigation. However, the NFL is investigating Peppers and Matthews as well as Harrison and Neal.