By Monica Iheakam
The man behind Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare alleged doping violations, Eric Lira, has been granted a $100.000 bond.
Lira, a “naturopathic” therapist from El Paso, is being held at the El Paso downtown detention facility. He was taken into custody in January. 12.
According to foreign media outlet, KVIA.com, Lira was taken into custody on January 12 on FBI investigations in which U.S. prosecutors say he used his medical connections in Juarez to send at least one athlete performance-enhancing drugs ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Tuesday morning, as Lira’s detention hearing was wrapping up and it seemed as though he would be granted a $100,000 bond, a U.S. Attorney representing the government asked the judge to wait to see if the USA ttorney’s Office in Manhattan would like to file an appeal.
Okagbare was slammed with three separate anti-doping charges by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
During the Tokyo Olympics, the sprinter was suspended indefinitely after AIU adjudged her to have tested positive for human growth hormone in one of the out-of-competition drug examinations she did in Slovakia on July 19.
