You're allowed to make "very strong implications". The other word for that is "opinion". You're in trouble if you say "I've been given secret information that shows Neimann cheated at the Cup", but if all you're saying is "based on these factors, which by implication you yourself could evaluate, I believe he's cheating", you're offering an opinion based on disclosed facts, and that defamation claim won't survive dismissal.

(I'm not a lawyer, I just nerd out on this stuff, happy to be corrected).