Last Sunday night, Al Jazeera America aired a documentary entitled "The Dark Side: Secrets of the Sports Dopers" as a bombshell discovery. The documentary linked several professional athletes to using performance-enhancing drugs. One of these athletes was five-time league MVP, Peyton Manning. The documentary revealed that human growth hormone (HGH) drugs were regularly mailed to the NFL quarterback's wife, Ashley, so he would never be connected to it.
The source of the comment was a man called Charlie Sly, who had affiliations with the Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine in Indianapolis. He was secretly recorded saying these things that implicated the star quarterback and several other athletes.
When interviewed, Sly renounced the statements he made with the undercover reporter from the channel. According to Sly, the story about Manning and HGH was only made up. He also went on to deny the allegations that stated he was working at the Guyer Institute in 2011 , which was also the time when Manning was able to get his hands on the drug publicly banned by the NFL. Sly also denied that he was a pharmacist.
Based on public records, it was discovered that Sly had interned at an Indiana-based licensed pharmacy from 2010 until 2013. Moreover, the founder of the clinic, Dr. Dale Guyer, confirmed that Sly was part of his facility as an unpaid intern from February to May 2013. Dr. Guyer calls Sly's actions "extremely disturbing." He also shares that these allegations are not true.
In response to the implications, the athletes (Manning included), have denied the claims. Considering Manning is recognized as among the biggest stars of the league, the allegations made by Al Jazeera could be damaging for his integrity. But many stand with the quarterback and believe he is being truthful. Could this just might be a desperate call to boost Al Jazeera's ratings since they've been reported to draw in just about 30,000 viewers per night?
Manning says he will most likely be suing Al Jazeera for making these allegations.
