EXCLUSIVE: DECO'S DRUG SLUR HELL

DECO will return to former club Porto this week - still haunted by a drugs slur which threatened to destroy his career.

The Chelsea midfielder, 32, was the target of a malicious whispering campaign which claimed he went into a rehab clinic to kick his habit.

Unfounded rumours spread like "a virus" through Portugal despite his denials - which left Deco feeling hurt and angry by the gossipmongers.

He was taunted on the field by opponents and could not escape the scandal even when he was out at restaurants or in shops.

In his autobiography The Price of Glory, Deco admits the scars remain from the "shameful" episode spread by "sick people" who were trying to destroy him.

Deco said: "My recovery from a muscle injury led to a violent explosion surrounding my name. It was a defamatory explosion - really shameful - spread by sick people without scruples.

"It's one of the things that have marked me in a negative way.

"The rumour went that during the week I was away having treatment, I was at a rehab clinic in Spain because I was into drugs. In little time, the rumour ran from one end of Portugal to the other. It was a frightening thing.

"Several people confirmed to me what they'd heard. They said 'That wretched Deco - such a good player and he ended up getting into drugs. He even had to spend a week in rehab to rid himself of them'.

Senseless

"I can forget bad things said about me no matter how unpleasant as long as there was some justification, even if I didn't agree with it.

"But I can't forget, much less forgive that someone should try to destroy me, to get at me, my agent and Porto. I don't forgive it and never will.

"The rumour spread quicker than any virus. The first time I heard it was in the Porto dressing room from Ricardo Silva. He said: 'A friend of mine told me heard a conversation in which they said you'd been to a rehab clinic'.

"I didn't even take notice. It was something ridiculous, senseless, which I didn't give any importance to.

"The most incredible thing was people heard it and believed it. They'd only have to reason a bit to understand it was nothing other than a malicious rumour. Sometimes it went too far.

"They'd only have to remember that when I was away for a week, I went away with a muscle injury and returned having recovered, which is not something which happens in a rehab clinic!

"They'd only have to think that I was frequently submitted to drugs controls and nothing ever showed up, knowing that drugs stay in the organs for months.

"They'd only have to think a bit to remember that there's no rehab clinic in the whole world that can cure a drug addict in a week. From what I know, treatment takes months or years.

"I hope nobody ever goes through what I went through. It was hard! I heard comments and saw derogatory gestures everywhere - in the street, at the bank, at the restaurant, at the café and in the stadiums.

"Even on the pitch colleagues of my profession gave voice to the rumour. One of them even made a relevant gesture which was shown on live TV, which is also something I'll never forget.

"The whole affair is something I find repugnant."

The scandal failed to sour his successful spell under Jose Mourinho which saw him win the Portuguese title, the UEFA Cup and Champions League before moving to Barcelona and Chelsea.

• ANCELOTTI WARNS CHELSEA STARS
• RAMPANT ESSIEN FEEDS WOLVES TO THE DOGS

This article has 2 comments