Retraction And Special Comment On "Growth Hormone" Post

by Gabe Lezra on Feb 23, 2012 7:31 AM CET

Yesterday evening, we posted a piece where we reported that Mr. Graham Hunter, a journalist with Sky Sports--among other things--casually mentioned that Barcelona, and Xavi in particular had used "growth hormone" to treat a chronic achilles injury. In this case, the devil is in the details: while Mr. Hunter did say "growth hormone," this was actually a misnomer and a mistake on his part; we took that statement and ran with it, which was inappropriate and unprofessional.

We made two mistakes: first of all, we did not contact Mr. Hunter for further comment (we should have, given the nature of the accusation), and secondly, we made a jump from "growth hormone" to "HGH," because we assumed that an injection of "growth hormone" meant an injection of "HGH". Both mistakes fueled about two hours of intense scrutiny here and on Twitter, and we're very sorry for any misunderstandings our post may have caused.

We regret that we did not contact Mr. Hunter, and we wish him all the best, as he is a truly wonderful journalist. He was kind enough to send me information on the actual procedure that Xavi had undergone, which was an injection of blood plasma rich in Growth Factors (GF). This is legal, and is widely practiced. Here are some links to stories about plasma injections and GF, including a link to an article by the Center for Integrated Medecine describing some of the benefits of High Density Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections.

This misunderstanding stemmed from a lack of care on my part. I want to personally apologize for not taking the time to check all the facets of such a complicated story before publishing it. I regret any harm my actions caused to Mr. Hunter, and to the community at large. I strive to bring only slightly biased reporting on Real Madrid activity to this site, and my lack of professionalism in dealing with such a situation is unforgivable. I will do better in the future.

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good to know that's cleared up:)

Follow me on Twitter @InderMethil

by Inder Methil on Feb 23, 2012 7:43 AM CET reply actions

Maybe your indicatation was a mistake

But on the “Off the Ball” Mr. Hunter said something like “I don’t know if it is legal or not and if it isn’t legal, Xavi is in problem because they do it very publicly.”
(You took the older post down, so I’m recalling this from my memory. But I’m sure it was something around that.)
So I think MM is not solely to blame. Although the apology shows your professionalism.
and In the brighter side, it turned to be a journalism lesson for you and all of us.

by Payam Fakhraie on Feb 23, 2012 8:27 AM CET reply actions

Just so we're clear

I don’t regret publishing this story, I simply regret not talking to Mr. Hunter first. There was nothing fabricated in the piece, and nothin meant to deceive; rather, there was a misunderstanding about a legitimate, correct quote. We still need to have a conversation about doping in soccer, but in this case the difference is between “growth hormones” (which Mr. Hunter did say) and “growth factors” (which he meant to say). I made the mistake of not allowing him to correct himself, and running with the story. I did not fabricate the quote (the audio is available widely, including on our podcast), and there was no intent to deceive or twist words.

Editor-in-Chief of Managing Madrid
@GabeLezra

by Gabe Lezra on Feb 23, 2012 11:26 AM CET reply actions