Manny Pacquiao could potentially face perjury charges for not disclosing a shoulder injury in his pre-fight medical questionnaire before facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in last Saturday’s blockbuster pay-per-view event. After Pacquiao’s loss to Mayweather, the Filipino boxer’s camp revealed that a rotator cuff injury inhibited him during the fight, and he underwent surgery on Monday. However, when asked if Pacquiao had suffered a shoulder injury in said questionnaire, he checked the “no” box.
The document, signed by both Pacquiao and his advisor Michael Koncz, states that the parties “hereby swear under penalty of perjury, that the above information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.” Koncz came to Pacquiao’s defense, and told the New York Times that he was the one who filled out the document, not Pacquiao.
“Number one, Manny didn’t check the box. I checked it. It was just an inadvertent mistake. If I was trying to hide anything, would I have listed all the medications on the sheet that he intended to use? We weren’t trying to hide anything. I just don’t think I read the questionnaire correctly.”
Koncz is right — the medications that were used pre-fight for the injury are listed on the document. The same ones that were approved by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. The USADA was notified of the shoulder injury Pacquiao suffered during training, and approved the proposed medications and pre-fight treatments that were to be used.
According to Pacquiao promotor Top Rank Boxing, his shoulder was not 100 percent, but he decided to proceed with the fight as well as his pre-fight treatment. Although the questionnaire was filled out earlier in the week including the medications to be used, the Nevada State Athletic Commission stopped the treatment because they did not know about the shoulder injury.
“This was disappointing to Team Pacquiao since they had disclosed the injury and treatment to USADA, USADA approved the treatments, and Manny had listed the medication on his pre-fight medical form.”
So from the Pacquiao camp’s perspective, it appears as if the injury was presumed to not be an issue after having disclosed it to the USADA, but not the Nevada Commission itself. USADA’s Travis Tygart expressed similar opinions by addressing the sole role of the USADA, “only a third party to the fight, charged only with testing the fighters for banned substances in training and the night of the bout.”
If Pacquiao is found guilty, he could face a sentence of one to four years in prison, a fine of $5,000 at most and potential fines or banishment from the Nevada Commission.
[Source: The Telegraph]
