Italian first division soccer club Juventus should be stripped of the titles it won when players received banned substances in the mid-90s, the world's anti-doping supremo said Monday.

In an interview with Rome daily La Repubblica, World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound said he expected a "strong signal" from Italian sporting authorities.

"There are very few innocent people here. The players knew and the managers did too," Pound said.

Juventus's doctor was convicted last year of giving players the blood booster EPO but club officials were cleared.

However, the ruling, made public recently, stressed Juventus was only exonerated because there was not sufficient evidence to prove the case.

The ruling said the doctor "could not have acted alone."

Last week Italian sports authorities referred the case to worldsport's supreme arbitration panel, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

CAS has been asked for its opinion on whether Juventus, 27-timeItalian champions, should keep the titles it won during the incriminated period from 1994 to 1998.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2005)