Although several players were banned for nandrolone around the same time, it is interesting to note that none of the case went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or any other kind of legal arena. One reason for this is that it is almost impossible to prove that someone was deliberately doping for nandrolone, unless the athlete's levels were unquestionably high. Nandrolone usage can be tested very basically, so it's unlikely that anyone would deliberately "build up", as you put it, with nandrolone.

I'm not certain whether the actual test levels of Stam, Davids, de Boer, or Guardiola were ever released. Assuming that their levels were not through the roof, it would have been hard to make any guilty ruling stand up in court. Remember that nandrolone is produced naturally in the body.

I was interested this week to read that Pep Guardiola was acquitted of his doping offence, also for nandralone, which happened several months after Stam's.

I don't know the exact reasons why his conviction was thrown out, but the same reasons may apply to the cases of Stam, Davids, and de Boer as well.

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