ROME: Benevento's team doctor insisted on Wednesday he was to blame for administering a banned substance to captain Fabio Lucioni, which resulted in a failed drugs test.
Lucioni, a 30-year-old defender, returned the positive doping control on September 10 after the Serie A newcomers lost a league game to Torino.
Team doctor Walter Giorgione gave his testimony before a hearing of the Italian Anti-Doping Commission (NADO) at their offices in Rome's Olympic Stadium.
Giorgione admitted administering a spray that was meant to help a cut heal more quickly, but which contained the banned anabolic steroid Clostabol.
He insisted, however, that the spray belonged to him personally and was therefore not available to Benevento staff and players.
The NADO prosecutor's decision is now awaiting a probable referral of the player, who has been provisionally suspended and risks a ban of between one and four years, according to Italian media reports.
Lucioni joined Benevento in 2014 and helped the team move up from the third division to the top flight this season.
Located in the hills of the Campania region 50km northeast of Naples, the team are struggling at the bottom of Serie A, losing all seven games so far this season with 18 goals conceded.