American Football: Former Balco Chief Claims He is Still in Touch With Chambers

One of the most ill-starred relationships in recent sporting memory is once again flourishing, according to Victor Conte, founder of the infamous Balco laboratories in California. He has claimed he is in regular touch with Dwain Chambers and is helping the disgraced British sprinter forge a new career in American football.

Conte, who served four months in prison after admitting selling the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) to leading athletes, including Chambers, said the two men have maintained contact since the Briton moved to Germany and signed as a wide receiver for the Hamburg Sea Devils of the NFL Europe league.

"I think Dwain Chambers is a great guy. I like him a lot. I follow him a lot, I still help him. I still do everything I can to support Dwain. He got caught up in something he shouldn't have been involved in. I mean this kid made some mistakes and he came forward.

"He told the truth about what happened, he took his licks. His life has been devastated. I try to encourage him," said Conte as he defended their relationship. "If it [looks] bad, it [looks] bad. It is just me trying to do what I can to support Dwain. He is my friend."

The American businessman also alleged he is still supplying Chambers with legal nutritional supplements aimed at helping his fitness regime - a claim at first denied yesterday by Chambers in a statement issued through the Sea Devils' media spokesman. "I am not receiving any supplements from him. That's not true at all," he said. When presented with the transcript of Conte's claims, the Sea Devils' response was "no comment".

Chambers, a former British 100 metres record holder, was banned for two years after admitting using performance-enhancing drugs supplied by Conte at his office in Burlingame, near San Francisco. He returned to top-class athletics in 2006 and although he won a European Championship gold medal as a member of the British 4 x 100m relay team his moment of glory was overshadowed by his team-mate Darren Campbell, who refused to take part in a lap of honour as a protest over Chambers' history of drug taking.

The flamboyant Conte, meanwhile, is back in the business of selling nutritional supplements from the old Balco offices albeit under a different name, SNAC. In an interview with the Guardian he said he would never again sell illegal steroids to athletes but he painted a bleak picture of a sporting world riddled with drug cheats. "The real rules of elite sport are: there is no Easter Bunny, there is no tooth fairy, there is no Santa Clause in elite sport. The purity is not there. That's the point," he said.