Former Inter Milan defender Giuseppe Bergomi has expressed his concern over some medication he was given during his playing career, which is now a banned substance in sport.
Bergomi, 51, has admitted to taking a substance called Micoren both for his club and country, and he was not the only one.
It was a substance that "helped you breathe better" under exertion, according to Bergomi, although it was later added to the banned substance list and removed from the market over concerns regarding potentially dangerous side effects.
Bergamo said it was concerning that he was given the drug during a career that lasted from 1979 to 1999.
"It's true, sometimes I am worried about the medication I took or that I was given," Bergomi said at a conference at the Expo trade fair in Milan, reports La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Not much was known about Micoren at the time. At Inter, they would give you it and tell you it would help you breathe better.
"Years later, however, it emerged that it was a dangerous substance and it was withdrawn from the market. But in previous years, Micoren was given to everybody at every club."
Bergomi remains worried by what was given out to footballers in the '80s and '90s before stronger doping controls were introduced, and more was known about the products being consumed.
"I don't feel anything particularly wrong, but it's just a general fear I have," Bergomi added. "I've said what I have said above all for youngsters, to raise their awareness of this issue and to let them know my own experience.
"I and other players from my generation were more naive whereas we should have been more careful and more prepared to seek information from the doctors about what we were taking. Fortunately the times have changed and it's easier to get this information and to safeguard yourself.
"Lads should always ask what it is they are being given and they should focus only on eating and training correctly. We were stupid to take that Micoren just because we were told it would help us. I would behave differently if I were to be playing today."
Juventus club doctors were jailed for 22 months 10 years ago after they were found guilty of administering banned substances to their players in the '90s.
Zdenek Zeman had repeatedly accused Juve of cheating, leading to an investigation in which it was proven they had been using a system of doping for their players.