Dispatches: The Truth About Drugs In Football

[RownhamHill]

The thing is about football is that I'm not sure it's even primarily a skill sport at all - it's a game about space and structure, facilitated by players running, when generally the better organised team will win, regardless of ability levels.

Even if you look at Barcelona at the moment, the reason they always seem to have the ball is not just because they're more skillful at keeping it once they have it (though they are!), but because every time they lose possession a pod of four or five players goes hunting for it back, invariably pressuring the opposing team into giving it up (the equivalent of a full court press in US terms). You just simply can't do that over and over again throughout 90 minutes without being supremely fit.

 

[Paco_P]

Why does the real Ronaldo (the fat one) have hormonal problems now? By his own admission because of the hormone treatments he received after one of his knee injuries. In football they dope so they can run longer than the other team, and they take all manner of steroids and hormones to recover from injuries, particularly the career threatening kind to some part of the leg. It doesn't even matter what football you talk about. Floyd Llandis's associate doctor David Chao is the team doctor for the US football San Diego Chargers.

Remember that Pep Guardiola, Barca's coach, was caught for nandrolone use as a player.

 

[sherer]

no just Pep the Marseille team that won the champions league in the 90s doped and also bribed the other teams.

Doping has been going on since back in the 50s. The German side that won the World Cup in 54 is meant to have doped.

As stated they don't look for anything so that way they don't find anything.

Real and Barca were both linked to Puerto as were a host of other sports yet FIFA and UEFA did nothing about it

 

[hrotha]

Actually, the dude does dope: he has a HGH deficiency and Barcelona paid for his treatment as a kid/teenager. Wouldn't be surprised if it continues, the surly little b'stard.

As much as I believe Messi and Barça are doping right now, most likely taking HGH too, there's a difference between using HGH for medical reasons and using it as a PED. It's still shady because it was Barça doctors who prescribed the treatment, if I'm not mistaken, which makes you wonder how necessary it was from a medical point of view.

 

[Frosty]

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.

 

[The Hitch]

I remember Frank de Boer got snatched, too.
(Nandrolon, 2001, while playing for Barca)

Never forget, Pep.

Never.

He is the key.

Busted for nandrolone and now the coach of the best team in history. Idolized by millions who how no clue he even tested positive, because even if you do test positive in football "journalists" (stupid people who get payed to watch football matches and spend time boasting that they know footballers) never mention it.

People like Ben Johnson or Floyd Landis on the other hand cant go to the supermarket without doping being mentioned.

 

[THISISIT]

Remember that Pep Guardiola, Barca's coach, was caught for nandrolone use as a player.

Which is ironic given he's built like a heroin-chic female model

 

[roundabout]

Those were higher profile cases. Olympic 100m and the Tour vs Guardiola who while not old was in decline at that point.

Also wiki says that he was cleared in 2009. Whiskey tango foxtrot at that one.

 

[Sleimas]

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.

 

[maltiv]

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.

Hahahhaha I knew this argument would come up. Of course being "just fast" means absolutely nothing but if you're already very good technically, add doping which makes you ridiculously fast, you'll obviously be much better. Also tired players are worse technically than rested ones.

People are willing to dope in order to get 10th instead of 50th in cat 4 races, of course football players are willing to dope in order to increase their pay by a few million euros (when they are about as much tested as a cat 4 racer).

 

[sniper]

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.

naive post of the day.

I would be surprised if doping isn't widespread and indeed massively used in football.
Probably much more sophisticated than in cycling.
With that I don't mean masking agents (they hardly need any in football). Rather, I mean that doping programs are probably designed on an individual level, i.e. a different program for different types of players. Messi got HGH, for obvious reasons. Others will get other products, depending on individual needs. Muscle enhancement for some, endurance enhancement for others, etc...

 

[Sleimas]

I think that some of the footballer are most definitely willing to dope. The only point I'm making is that spread is probably lower because reward that you can get when you dope is much lower. Messi was uses here as an example - his speed and endurance could be 10 or 20 % lesser and he would still be phenomenal. It's only natural i think that a lot of footballers does not bother to try it because they can still compete and advantage is quite minimal.

 

[hrotha]

I think that some of the footballer are most definitely willing to dope. The only point I'm making is that spread is probably lower because reward that you can get when you dope is much lower. Messi was uses here as an example - his speed and endurance could be 10 or 20 % lesser and he would still be phenomenal. It's only natural i think that a lot of footballers does not bother to try it because they can still compete and advantage is quite minimal.

The boost of doping is lower than in cycling, but the risk of being caught is much, much smaller. Blood tests aren't really done. They look for steroids and recreational drugs. It's basically a free boost with no risk of being caught, so even if it only gave you a 1% advantage it would be worth it.

Think of Ronaldinho. How useless was he when he got fat?

 

[Sleimas]

The boost of doping is lower than in cycling, but the risk of being caught is much, much smaller. Blood tests aren't really done. They look for steroids and recreational drugs. It's basically a free boost with no risk of being caught, so even if it only gave you a 1% advantage it would be worth it.

Think of Ronaldinho. How useless was he when he got fat?

Don't know a lot about testing system so can't argue with that. As about Ronaldhino - dope or no dope - you need to train hard to be a good player. Ronaldhino trained only at night clubs ;]

 

[THISISIT]

While I'm not arguing that there is no doping in football, but being just fast in it means absoultely nothing.

Clearly footballers are primarily signed based on their ability to play the game; technical skill, creativity, and on and on. That is, their pure quality as a footballer.

I doubt there are too many drugs that will increase things like sprint speed, jumping height, especially without increasing muscle mass substantially, which then you have to lug around the pitch.

OTOH, clearly anything that would help you avoid fatigue so that you can continue to play the game to the utmost of your ability would be a big benefit.

EPO I would think would be huge, and maybe all those various "recovery" hormones that seem popular amongst cyclists to help deal with the stress of constant practice, games, travel, etc. for most of the year.

From a team's perspective there is a definite motivation to avoid fatigue late in a match, and increase your teams ability to press and keep going forward through out the match as whole. Again, something EPO would almost certainly help with immensely.

 

[hrotha]

Don't know a lot about testing system so can't argue with that. As about Ronaldhino - dope or no dope - you need to train hard to be a good player. Ronaldhino trained only at night clubs ;]

The tests were discussed in a previous thread (maybe on the one about Toure?), if you find that discussion you'll discover some very interesting info about the standards of the antidoping tests in football. As for Ronaldinho, that was my point: no matter how skilled Ronaldinho was, he was nothing without great physical condition. And dope enhaces your condition. Look at how many kms per game someone like Xavi has to run.

 

[Sleimas]

Clearly footballers are primarily signed based on their ability to play the game; technical skill, creativity, and on and on. That is, their pure quality as a footballer.

I doubt there are too many drugs that will increase things like sprint speed, jumping height, especially without increasing muscle mass substantially, which then you have to lug around the pitch.

OTOH, clearly anything that would help you avoid fatigue so that you can continue to play the game to the utmost of your ability would be a big benefit.

EPO I would think would be huge, and maybe all those various "recovery" hormones that seem popular amongst cyclists to help deal with the stress of constant practice, games, travel, etc. for most of the year.

From a team's perspective there is a definite motivation to avoid fatigue late in a match, and increase your teams ability to press and keep going forward through out the match as whole. Again, something EPO would almost certainly help with immensely.

Something run by a team and used on whole team would definitely be much more effective, but if you go there you can't talk about minimal risk anymore. Bigger affair like this would be much more difficult to keep secret and possible consequence if the truth gets out would be collosal for the club.

 

[Sleimas]

The tests were discussed in a previous thread (maybe on the one about Toure?), if you find that discussion you'll discover some very interesting info about the standards of the antidoping tests in football. As for Ronaldinho, that was my point: no matter how skilled Ronaldinho was, he was nothing without great physical condition. And dope enhaces your condition. Look at how many kms per game someone like Xavi has to run.

I'll look at it.

But dope can't give you a good condition, it can only improve it - you still need to work. Ronaldinho didn't work

Of course it's better for Xavi that he can be fresher in the end of the game, but if his athletic abilities would be lesser he'd still could be on of the top midfielders in the world. As I said my only point is that reward is not big enough to lure big masses of footballers.

 

[sniper]

But dope can't give you a good condition, it can only improve it - you still need to work. Ronaldinho didn't work

cyclists also need to work, even when juiced to the gills.
so why are you using that as an argument to conclude that doping is less rife in football than in cycling? (which is what you stated earlier)

but if his athletic abilities would be lesser he'd still could be on of the top midfielders in the world.

What brand of blinders are you wearing? They seem to be quite robust.

 

[Sleimas]

cyclists also need to work, even when juiced to the gills.
so why are you using that as an argument to conclude that doping is less rife in football than in cycling? (which is what you stated earlier)



What brand of blinders are you wearing? They seem to be quite robust.

Of course they do, but athletic abilities means much less in football. I don't know if you follow the sport, but look at guys like Scholes and Bergkamp late in their careers. They certainly weren't the most athletic guys, but managed to keep their perfomances at a very good level.

 

[sniper]

Of course they do, but athletic abilities means much less in football. I don't know if you follow the sport, but look at guys like Scholes and Bergkamp late in their careers. They certainly weren't the most athletic guys, but managed to keep their perfomances at a very good level.

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.

 

[patterson_hood]

It's only natural i think that a lot of footballers does not bother to try it because they can still compete and advantage is quite minimal.

No, the advantage is huge. People seem to think there is no skill in cycling, that it's all about fitness, this is wrong. And football isn't all about skill, one of Ronaldos' (christiano one) best traits is his strength, endurance and speed. I'd argue he would be no where near top level without it, same with Messi, they have the tricks but they then need the strength and speed to get away from the players they're going past.

I doubt there are too many drugs that will increase things like sprint speed, jumping height, especially without increasing muscle mass substantially, which then you have to lug around the pitch.

This is a joke post right?

Of course they do, but athletic abilities means much less in football. I don't know if you follow the sport, but look at guys like Scholes and Bergkamp late in their careers. They certainly weren't the most athletic guys, but managed to keep their perfomances at a very good level.

It all depends on the player but from what I remember of Scholes he was one of the hardest working guys on the field, even at the end of his career. Doping would be a massive boost for a player like Scholes.

 

[sniper]

No, the advantage is huge. People seem to think there is no skill in cycling, that it's all about fitness, this is wrong. And football isn't all about skill, one of Ronaldos' (christiano one) best traits is his strength, endurance and speed. I'd argue he would be no where near top level without it, same with Messi, they have the tricks but they then need the strength and speed to get away from the players they're going past.

This is a joke post right?

It all depends on the player but from what I remember of Scholes he was one of the hardest working guys on the field, even at the end of his career. Doping would be a massive boost for a player like Scholes.

bingo.

@Sleimas: are you really into football, or just pretending?
if you were, you'd be more aware of the advantages doping could bring you.

 

[The Hitch]

Those were higher profile cases. Olympic 100m and the Tour vs Guardiola who while not old was in decline at that point.

Also wiki says that he was cleared in 2009. Whiskey tango foxtrot at that one.

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.

 

[The Hitch]

EPO I would think would be huge, and maybe all those various "recovery" hormones that seem popular amongst cyclists to help deal with the stress of constant practice, games, travel, etc. for most of the year.

Especially if your playing 60 matches a year. Or like Barcas 170cm stars doing it running non stop without getting substituted for 80 matches a year, then playing for the national team.

Emmanuel Petit warned 10 years ago that with more games, players would be more inclined to use drugs. He said he already knew some players who used drugs (and of course played in a WC squad captained by a known doper).

He was told to shut his trap.