Yes, operation Puerto had many cyclists on the list. Not many athletes from other sports were directly linked to Fuentes though. Legally there is nothing wrong when they find your blood in the freezer of a doctor. That's what I think was the main issue. The Spanish really missed an opportunity to do a clean sweep but it probably would have wiped out half their professional athletes competing on the highest levels.
I live in Europe and follow soccer and cycling non stop. I played soccer on a decent level as well. You can absolutely play one match a week on the professional level without any dope. Burst sprints are often followed by rests, it's very easy to train this. And on average a soccer player runs 9-11 KM (5,5 - 6,5 miles) per match. This is not that much in 90 minutes. We would often have fitness tests and many of my team mates (and me) were often on the same level as the average pro player. Where it gets funny is the amount of matches the high level professionals play. It's near impossible to play a match every 3-4 days (or 50+ a season). That is where I believe they use substances that are either in the gray area or on the doping list; in order to speed up the recovery process. They have to watch out though, these days they test a few players every single match. Even on the level I played a few years ago they test.
