Dispatches: The Truth About Drugs In Football

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Walkman

Walkman

Apr 4, 2010
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The Hitch said:
More people care about a former Barca player playing for Brescia then they do about the Tour de France.

While i was looking through Guardiolas wiki to find out what club he was playing for i noticed that there is only one small mention of nandrolone in a very small section, on his whole profile.

Contador tests positive for far smaller ammounts of a far weaker drug but half his wikipedia is about doping.
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Well, the man has got some history, does he not?

Operación Puerto
Discovery with Bruyneel
Astana with Lance and the medical waste story
Astana with Vino and Martinelli
The beef story

I know being in a certain team does not make you a doper but he sure has picked his compadres with care... hanging around some of the biggest dopers and some of the most dodgy sport directors.
 
luckyboy

luckyboy

May 26, 2009
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humble

Oct 3, 2010
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Seeing all the clinics busted up in Spain but not Spanish footballers, then seeing the investigation closed and only other countries nabbing their own kin based on evidence the Spaniards collected, then seeing the Spanish, never having won a world cup, using incredible bursts of speed to out run everyone to loose balls over and over as they stormed to their first World cup, was kind like going to a go-go bar where the dancers where pasties - you don't need to see it all to know what's going on!
 
Dr. Maserati

Dr. Maserati

BANNED
Jun 19, 2009
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Frosty said:
If there was widespread PED use amongst footballers (soccer-players) then i would be surprised that it isnt better known. Im pretty sure that there were at least quite a lot of rumours before 1998's events - given that footballers seem to get drunk a lot i cant help but think that they would tell people and there would be some stories?

Regarding the physical side of the game, i remember a TV commentator saying a few years ago that the difference between two of the top teams in England and the rest was the amount of running they did to get the ball back. Commentators speak a lot of rubbish sometimes and maybe these teams benefit from bigger squads allowing rotation of players, etc, but i thought it was an interesting observation.
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Sleimas said:
While I'm not arguing that there is no doping in football, but being just fast in it means absoultely nothing. Wide range of other skills are needed wich cannot be improved trough doping. There are some case, Kolo Toure is one of the most recent examples, but I would be hugely suprised if there is a massive use. It's simply cannot give such a big impact as in other sports.
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I think you guys could do with reading this article by Richard Sadlier speaking about his time at Millwall:
Kolo Toure is facing a decision which will most likely result in a lengthy ban from football on account of something very similar. Though he has yet to publicly speak on the issue, it is believed the banned substance found in his A sample was the result of him taking a slimming pill which belonged to his wife. Many have laughed off the idea that an athlete in full training would use such a pill, but from my experience -- which was over ten years ago now -- the advantages of taking such assistance is obvious. They work, and you play better as a result.
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BrentonOfTheNorth

Sep 5, 2011
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I'd think that in football, by far the most useful effect of doping would be in recovery. How recently and how many minutes a player/team has recently played can have a big impact on their performance.

But those who think doping to increase strength/speed means that much really should ask themselves how athletically mediocre players have often been near best in the world at their peaks, like Diego Milito, Riquelme, Xavi, Figo, Zidane, Pirlo, Rivaldo... the list could go on endlessly. Rivaldo for instance is bowlegged and lost teeth from childhood malnutrition.

The last two World Cup winners consisted of two of the least athletic teams in the tournaments.

Giving Ronaldinho as an example is funny because its been obvious to most football fans that his problem is in his head. Great talents in football are often flash in the pan for that reason.

Granted there are examples such as Ronaldo who bulked up rather suddenly (2006?) with increased athleticism on the pitch to go with it, improving their game.

I guess most casually football fans can't really interpret all the technique and decision making involved in the game. (Similar to how casual tennis fans fail to notice how 'bad' Rafa Nadal's technique in tennis is according to some in the tennis thread!) What sets the best defensive players apart from the rest is their positioning. Otherwise physical beasts like Robert Huth or Oguchi Onyewu wouldn't have failed miserably when they had their chance with a big club.
 
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Frosty

Jun 25, 2009
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What happened to Mutu in the end after his positive test? Is he still expected to pay the huge compensation to Chelsea? (drug test failure meant he cost a lot to buy in but he then went out cheaply).
 
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sniper

Oct 16, 2010
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Frosty said:
What happened to Mutu in the end after his positive test? Is he still expected to pay the huge compensation to Chelsea? (drug test failure meant he cost a lot to buy in but he then went out cheaply).
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Mutu's case is about recreational drugs, so has little relevance to the discussion in this thread.

Like in tennis, the football authorities pick out some scapegoats once in a while (guys like Mutu who get high on coke and/or grass) in order to keep up the appearance of fighting doping.
 
A

Andynonomous

Dec 30, 2010
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Any sport where speed and or strength, and or stamina are a big part of the game, combined with a weak testing regime is ripe for rampant doping.

Doping is likely rampant in football.
 
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Mambo95

Jul 2, 2009
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euanli said:
Just saw an advert for this on Channel 4 being the News. It had a voiceover accusing the FA of covering up positives over the image of cocaine being split into lines.

Kinda less hopeful about this being about performance enhancing drugs.
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Yeah, I saw a trailer for it today. Who knows what the focus is? Although evidence of coke intake will be easier to come by than EPO intake

But I do know that the general British public will be largely oblivious to EPO and HGH etc (due to relatively few high profile British doping cases), but they are all aware of coke and probably think loads of footballers do it. (And an England International rugby player actually served a 2 year ban for coke).

So that's how you trail the programme.

(Of course they also know steroids, but cortisone injections are seen as standard. Take a cortisone jab for a football match and you're a brave hero, take one for a bike race and you're a dirty cheat. It's a strange world).
 
Parrulo

Parrulo

Aug 5, 2010
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i am honestly surprised how people haven't discussed how stronger then every1 else cristiano ronaldo is at the end of a game. when i saw this thread i thought people would be all over him like nadal on the tennis thread. :p

one thing must be said about ronaldo tho while i have no problems admitting that he is most likely doping, ever since he went to man u every1(coaches, fellow players, and overall staff) say that he is the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave because he does hours of gymnasium after the normal practice and this continued on real. he also lost a lot of technique while developing his body.

about the barca players one thing must be said, they aren't the most athletic players around yet they never appear to slow down(unless they are against ronaldo . . . .)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnqwk_EaJTM
 
Midnightfright

Midnightfright

Mar 6, 2011
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Parrulo said:
i am honestly surprised how people haven't discussed how stronger then every1 else cristiano ronaldo is at the end of a game. when i saw this thread i thought people would be all over him like nadal on the tennis thread. :p

one thing must be said about ronaldo tho while i have no problems admitting that he is most likely doping, ever since he went to man u every1(coaches, fellow players, and overall staff) say that he is the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave because he does hours of gymnasium after the normal practice and this continued on real. he also lost a lot of technique while developing his body.

about the barca players one thing must be said, they aren't the most athletic players around yet they never appear to slow down(unless they are against ronaldo . . . .)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnqwk_EaJTM
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Im season ticket holder for the mighty Hearts of Midlothian. I can enjoy watching them play knowing they don't dope, atleast if they do and there still playing at that standard they should be well and truly ashamed of themselves
 
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Sleimas

Jul 10, 2011
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sniper said:
In the latter days of his carreer, bergkamp only played 45 minutes or less.

but regardless, how do you know they weren't doped up?
Both the non-flying dutchman and scholes seem to me to have been very likely candidates for an intensive condition- and endurance enhancing dope-program, exactly with the purpose of keeping them fit and competitive in the latter days of their carreers.
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I'm not saying that I know they weren't doped up. Just bringing up the point that it is possible to play football at a highest level without terrific athleticism. Bergkamp played until he was 37 which is remarkable, last two years his role was small, but before that he was very effective, while not being a great athlete.
 
E

euanli

May 20, 2010
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Midnightfright said:
Im season ticket holder for the mighty Hearts of Midlothian. I can enjoy watching them play knowing they don't dope, atleast if they do and there still playing at that standard they should be well and truly ashamed of themselves
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Haven spoken to one Scottish football pundit, there is at least one SPL club which is known/rumoured to have a program. Personally I can only see two clubs being able to afford it.

Side note: you don't see many 41 year olds playing in their top national division do you? ;)
 
E

euanli

May 20, 2010
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gillan1969 said:
when the division is as poor as scotland you might... :)
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Then you would see more of it. Comparatively how many 40 year olds do you see playing in League 1 or the Championship?
 
S

sniper

Oct 16, 2010
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Sleimas said:
I'm not saying that I know they weren't doped up. Just bringing up the point that it is possible to play football at a highest level without terrific athleticism. Bergkamp played until he was 37 which is remarkable, last two years his role was small, but before that he was very effective, while not being a great athlete.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3n4CTLDn_w

look first how he starts the attack in midfield, and gets up front in a few seconds, outrunning several doped-up, very athletic defenders. Then to still have the muscle strength to pull out that final piece of skill, that's athleticism for you.
If you've ever played football yourself (and don't be ashamed to say you never did), you know that you need a lot of muscle strenght and condition to pull out pieces of skill like that. And of course, the stronger the defenders, the more muscle strenght and condition you need to outplay them.
Without the physical strength and endurance, you're left with ideas only, and the execution will fail.
 
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