Baseball: Bonds 'unwittingly' Used Drugs

Barry Bonds, the US's most popular baseball player, has admitted using steroids manufactured by Balco, though he claimed he took them unwittingly, writes Duncan Mackay .

The San Francisco Giants outfielder, who hit a record 73 home runs in 2001, testified to a grand jury that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by Greg Anderson, one of four men charged in connection with supplying banned steroids.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that Bonds testified to the federal grand jury last year that Anderson, his personal trainer, told him the substances he used in 2003 were flax seed oil and a balm for arthritis.

Bonds's attorney Michael Rains said the leak of grand jury testimony was an attempt to smear his client. "My view has always been this case has been the US versus Bonds," he said, "and I think the government has moved in certain ways in a concerted effort to indict my client.

On Thursday the Chronicle had revealed that the New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi told the grand jury that he had used steroids including "the cream" and "the clear", which he had obtained from Anderson. Tony Serra, Anderson's lawyer, said his client "never knowingly provided illegal substances to anyone".

The case of Michelle Collins, last year's world indoor 400 metres champion who has been charged with doping offences, will be decided by an American Arbitration Association panel on Friday.