Michele Scarponi (Acqua e Sapone) has been targeted by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in connection with his implication in the Operación Puerto doping affair which erupted last May.

CONI this week announced that Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, now under suspension from the Discovery Channel team, has been asked to attend a hearing on May 2 to answer charges on his implication in the scandal.

Scarponi, who at the time of the Puerto investigation was a member of the Liberty Seguros team, has been ordered to appear on Wednesday as well, but at 8:30 in the morning. Basso is slated to appear at 1:00 that afternoon.

The 27-year-old Scarponi won the International Coppi and Bartali Week stagerace at the end of March. However his future, like Basso's, could now be in limbo.

CONI will be taking a closer look at what role, if any, both riders played in the Puerto case, which initially implicated 58 cyclists among a reported total of 200 athletes.

A CONI statement issued Thursday said Scarponi had been called to the hearing "following the reopening of the investigation into Operación Puerto."

"(Scarponi) is suspected of having violated article 2.2 of the WorldAnti Doping Code on the use and attempted use of illegal substances ormethods," the statement noted.

Basso, a major favourite for the May's Giro and the Tour de France in July, was suspended by Discovery after the Italian authorities reopened their owninvestigation into Operación Puerto.

The affair erupted in May 2006 after a raid on the premises of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.

Madrid police uncovered bags of blood and doping products, along with code names of cyclists and documents that pointed to an organized doping program.

Investigators in Germany recently confirmed that blood attributed to JanUllrich during the investigation turned out to match a DNA sample from the German. Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, continues to proclaim his innocence and since retired from the sport.