In an investigative report by Al Jazeera released last month, an Austin, Texas-based pharmacist named Charles Sly alleged that he supplied "a bunch of football players... and a bunch of baseball players," with "Delta-2," which is "... a hormone supplement that is 'steroidal in nature' but is not an anabolic steroid, according to online product descriptions," as Huffington Post writers Ryan Grimm and Travis Waldron wrote at the time.
Sly, in the undercover video recorded by Al Jazeera, named a number of NFL players as clients and two major league players, "Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and Washington Nationals infielder Ryan Zimmerman as players who received the drug from him."
Zimmerman "denied using the drugs to the [Al Jazeera] network," according to the Huffington Post report, which went on to say that, "Sly, when pressed by Al Jazeera, backtracked, saying that his claims about supplying the drugs to athletes were 'false and incorrect.'"
Sly, in a video posted on YouTube, said, ".... the statements on any recordings or communications that Al Jazeera plans to air are absolutely false and incorrect."
"To be clear," he added, "I am recanting any such statements and there is no truth to any statement of mine that Al Jazeera plans to air.
"Under no circumstances should any of those statements, recordings or communications be aired."
In a statement made to MLBTraderumors.com, William Burck, of Quinn Emanuel, attorney for both Howard and Zimmerman, said it was, "inexcusable and irresponsible that Al Jazeera would provide a platform and broadcast outright lies about Mr. Howard and Mr. Zimmerman.":
"The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims.
"We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients’ good names."
According to a Reuters report tonight, Zimmerman has filed suit against Al Jazeera America:
BREAKING: Baseball player Ryan Zimmerman sues Al Jazeera America over alleged defamation: court filing
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) January 5, 2016
Nats INF Ryan Zimmerman has filed suit against Al Jazeera America in the District. In document, categorically denies ever taking steroids.
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
Suit: "Mr. Zimmerman has never taken Delta 2, human growth hormone, or any other steroid or other performance-enhancing substance ... (1/2)
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
Suit: "... banned by the MLB." (2/2)
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
Zimmerman, as quoted by the Washington Post's Barry Svrluga, issued the following statement on the suit:
Statement from Ryan Zimmerman (1/3): "I have always taken pride in my personal conduct. While I am not a litigious person ...
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
Z'man (2/3): " ...I felt it was necessary to file this suit to restore my reputation and to hold Al Jazeera accountable for its actions. "
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
Zimmerman (3/3): " ... The suit speaks for itself, and I have no plans to discuss this any further."
— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) January 5, 2016
There was also this report from the New York Times today:
Following names from Al Jazeera doping report leads to curious connections https://t.co/mFO1XiDiHN pic.twitter.com/Vmxhbt64KP
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) January 5, 2016