15:48, UK, Wednesday 05 October 2011

Bobby Moore

Three West German players were possibly taking drugs during the 1966 World Cup final against England, it has been claimed.

A letter from historians at Berlin's Humboldt University revealed three members of the team may have broken doping rules with a medicine used to treat cold symptoms.

The match was, of course, won 4-2 by England but has gone down in German history for the controversial "Wembley Tor" (Wembley Goal) that Geoff Hurst scored in extra time.

The letter, written by the former chairman of Fifa's medical committee and handed to German magazine Der Spiegel, Milhao Andrejevic, said traces of ephedrine were found in the suspected players' samples.

As well as being used to treat cold symptoms, ephedrine is a stimulant which was on a list of prohibited medicines distributed before the tournament.

England 1966 defender George Cohen told The Sun: "I am astounded. I always wondered where they got their energy from in extra time.

"Thank goodness the result was not affected by whatever it was the Germans were taking.

"What would Fifa have done if Germany had won?"

The 1966 tournament was the first time Fifa made World Cup players take drugs tests - there were no positive tests at the competition.

Ephedrine use has proved controversial in sport.

In the 1994 World Cup, the Argentine footballer Diego Maradona tested positive for the substance, while Carl Lewis also tested positive for ephedrine prior to the Seoul Olympics. He was excused, after claiming that the drug had been taken inadvertently.

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