The brother of famous athlete of Albanian origin Pirro Dhima was arrested on Friday morning in Athens.
According to police sources, Odisea Dhima, 58, was arrested after quantities of stimulant substances, or doping, were found in his home as well as at the sports center he ran. The substances were supplied to athletes with the aim of artificially boosting their sporting results.
According to the charges, he has been engaged in this activity for more than 14 years and even provided such substances to his own son.
Police say that since April 2024, he supplied and provided banned substances to athletes. During the investigation, a case was also uncovered in which a substance banned by WADA was given to a minor athlete during a competition; both the coach and the athlete had previously been sanctioned with exclusion from competitions and sporting events.
During inspections of an apartment and sports facilities in Attica, 871 pieces of medication and illegal doping substances (tablets and ampoules, not approved by the National Organization for Medicines and dangerous to health), 15,000 euros in cash, 17 athlete cards, handwritten notes and a mobile phone were found and seized. The phone will be verified, as there are suspicions it contains additional evidence of the illegal activity of the 58-year-old, Odiesa Dhima.
The arrest was carried out by the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime in cooperation with the Greek Anti-Doping Organization (EOKAN) and the National Medicines Organization (EOF). The arrested man was taken to the prosecutor’s office for questioning and subsequently to court for a security measure, which is expected to decide whether he will be detained.