By Zachary Fagenson
MIAMI (Reuters) - New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in an interview with federal agents investigating a Florida anti-aging clinic at the center of baseball's doping scandal, the Miami Herald reported on Wednesday.
The admission, if true, represents an about-turn for Rodriguez who has repeatedly denied the use of banned substances from the Miami-area Biogenesis clinic, even as he concluded last week a one-year suspension by Major League Baseball for violating the league's doping program.
But speaking to federal authorities in January, Rodriguez, known in the baseball world as A-Rod, admitted to buying and using hormone-filled syringes and creams from the clinic, the Herald reported, citing a 15-page summary of the meeting.
His New York-based attorney, Joseph Tacopina, would not comment on the report, saying, "Grand jury secrecy law, which appears to have been violated, prevents me from answering one way or the other."
Rodriguez, 39, was recently reinstated by the Yankees and is expected to move from third base to first base in the coming season.
The Herald gained access to the documents as prosecutors pursue criminal charges against the clinic's owner and six others tied to one of sport's biggest doping scandals, including Rodriguez's cousin, Yuri Sucart.
Prosecutors said Rodriguez, one of baseball's best-paid players, gave Sucart a total of $900,000 in late 2013 after Sucart's lawyers threatened the baseball star, saying Sucart would reveal he was Rodriguez's "steroid mule," according to court records filed last week.
Sucart introduced Rodriguez to the clinic owner and Rodriguez admitted to paying for and using banned substances, the Herald reported.
Rodriguez injected human growth hormone into his stomach, according to the report reviewed by the newspaper, and described to federal authorities how the owner of the now-defunct clinic gave him tips on evading doping tests.
Ron Berkowitz, Rodriguez's agent, could not immediately be reached for comment. The league had no comment on the article.
A spokeswoman for the Miami field office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said she did not know what report the Herald cited and declined further comment. Federal prosecutors also declined to comment.
Anthony Bosch, who owned the clinic where prosecutors allege professional athletes paid as much as $12,000 per month for testosterone-filled syringes and creams, pled guilty last month to a felony charge of conspiracy to distribute testosterone.
Rodriguez, one of baseball's top sluggers, won the American League's most valuable player award in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
(Additional reporting and writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Mary Milliken and Bill Trott)