Juventus have been told that they do not have to hand back titles won in the mid-1990s even though the club’s doctor was found guilty of doping offences.

The international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne has ruled that the club could not be stripped of the titles after being asked to pass judgment by The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

“The use of pharmaceutical substances that are not expressly banned by sporting law and that are not similar to illegal substances cannot be punished by disciplinary action,” CAS was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday.

The verdict comes in the wake of a trial in Turin last November in which Riccardo Agricola was found guilty of administering excessive pharmaceuticals to players between 1994 and 1998. Agricola was also found guilty of administering the banned blood-booster EPO. That verdict is under appeal.

Should Italy’s Court of Appeal uphold the original sentence there could be calls for Juventus to be stripped of their trophies.

“I’ve read the sentence of the Court of Arbitration. Now I’ll wait for that of the Court of Appeal,” said Raffaele Guariniello, the judge who investigated the original allegations against Juventus.