FRANKFURT, Germany -- North Korea officials blamed traditional musk deer gland medicine used after a lightning strike for five positive tests for steroids at the Women's World Cup, the biggest soccer doping scandal at a major tournament in 17 years.
After two players were caught during the tournament this month, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Saturday the world soccer governing body took the unprecedented step of testing the rest of the North Korean squad and found three more positive results.
"This is a shock," Blatter said at a news conference. "We are confronted with a very, very bad case of doping and it hurts."
Defender Song Jong Sun tested positive for steroids after North Korea's first two group games and was suspended for the last match.
A North Korean delegation told Blatter and the head of FIFA's medical committee on Saturday that the steroids were accidentally taken with traditional Chinese medicines based on the deer glands.
"The North Korean officials said they didn't use it to improve performance. They said they had a serious lightning accident with several players injured and they gave it as therapy," said Michel D'Hooghe, chief of FIFA's medical committee. "It is not systemic, because not all of the players took it. We would have found it with the others too."
