More problems and controversy for Ronaldo

Ronaldo is in more hot water, which is probably a good thing to help heal his thigh injury which has been revealed to be more serious than initially thought.

It looks like Ronaldo will miss at least another month of action. The AC Milan medics have admitted to getting the diagnosis of his thigh injury somewhat wrong. Earlier Ronaldo's Brazilian doctor, Jose Luis Runco, blasted the medical staff for their diagnosis and treatment. Ronaldo travelled to Antwerp to get a second opinion because his progress had stalled and since received permission to return to Rio de Janeiro to receive treatment there.

It is this very treatment that is stirring up a lot of controversy currently because of the use of gene therapy (which is banned in Italy but a-okay in Brazil! :). The Italian Olympic Committee's anti-doping prosecutor indicated that he may open an investigation on the use of this therapy. The therapy uses a natural protein to stimulate cell proliferation and is called "growth factor" and was initially developed to treat cancer. This could be regarded as doping by the committee and would be yet another blow to Ronaldo getting things back on track! Personally I don't see how using your own blood's proteins to heal yourself could be doping or banned!?

If you're actually interested in the science behind the treatment, see the video below for a good explaination.