Doping in Soccer/Football

[del1962]

I doubt overall that football ever reached the same levels of doping as cycling did in its past, but that does not mean that there are not pockets of doping within football including at the top, just ask Didier Deschamps.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

FIFA president Sepp Blatter knows the Qatar World Cup in the summer could be dangerous and admits it may have been a mistake

http://www.beinsport.tv/news/article/t0iw5afpbzyy112evq5y8s3tg/title/world-cup-mistake

 

[del1962]

FIFA president Sepp Blatter knows the Qatar World Cup in the summer could be dangerous and admits it may have been a mistake

http://www.beinsport.tv/news/article/t0iw5afpbzyy112evq5y8s3tg/title/world-cup-mistake

I thought they are going to build air conditioned stadium

 

[poupou]

Could they move Qatar in Greenland?

 

[Catwhoorg]

I thought they are going to build air conditioned stadium

I mean its not like domed stadia are unheard of, but that was said to be unacceptable.

Some even have retractable roofs.


It was a badly thought out bid, a stupid place to award the championship to and we have several years of fighting the fallout.

 

[Alphabet]

Nobody actually gets awarded World Cups, it just goes to the country which cobbles together the highest bribe. Qatar have trillions to waste on unnecessary, decadent and otherwise completely pointless things. The other bidders didn't have that same luxury and so Qatar won it unopposed.

The bribing system is flawed though, at some point, even as corrupt an organisation as FIFA have to realise that some things are unfeasible. Hosting a World Cup in a country that has no pedigree in football, a tiny population, an even smaller area, as well as a whole host of human rights issues and of course the weather, is ridiculous. To borrow a Liggetism, this is a slap in the face to the fan.

If they really wanted a 'World Cup for the Arab World' then there are a host of Middle Eastern/Arabic/North African nations that are far better suited. Egypt, for example. I suppose Qatar could still rescue all this by buying themselves a new country somewhere to the north.

 

[Alphabet]

I was doing a little research on doping in football (I've been working on a Dopeology.com inspired spreadsheet- work in progress, take a look and tell me what you think . https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlOaeNXLgkPodGFsal9ZaWE3amdKLWJLVEFpY1djd0E&usp=sharing) and I came across the curious and tragic case of Luc De Rijck.

Luc De Rijck was a 26 year old striker for the Belgian Second Division team, KV Turnhout, in 1991. At the time of his tragic death, he was the leading goalscorer in the Second Division for that season. The cause of his death, post mortem, was identified as a faulty blood transfusion procedure. From all I could glean on the internet, the doctor responsible was charged, but I have no idea what happened to him.

How revealing is that? A second division player, over 20 years ago, in a country not especially known for great footballing ability or wealth, before the era where football became insanely lucrative- doing blood transfusions. It boggles the mind. These guys were half a decade ahead of the pioneers of blood transfusions in cycling, and a decade ahead of the point where even the lower levels of the sport were involved in it. Could you imagine a Pro Conti team doing blood transfusions in 1991?

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

I suspect it was the logistics that kept cycling behind in the blood transfusion stakes. In a multi-stage (possibly multi country) race keeping the blood in the correct condition is going to be tougher than having a static facility available to you.

 

[Alphabet]

Yeah, it's a lot easier for football clubs as they're pinned down to one location for most of the season. But still, BB's don't come cheap, and so a second division Belgian team getting up to it before the money in football really took off is unbelievable. The wealthier clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for example could have started as early as the 60s or 70s .

 

[oldcrank]

These guys were half a decade ahead of the pioneers of blood transfusions in cycling, and a decade ahead of the point where even the lower levels of the sport were involved in it. Could you imagine a Pro Conti team doing blood transfusions in 1991?

Hasn't Moser confessed to blood-doping for his 1984 Hour Record?
Some members of the 1984 USA Olympic cycling team coached by
Edward "Eddie B" Borysewicz used blood transfusions. I am sure
that other cyclists were blood doping in 1984 as well, and before.

 

[Alphabet]

Once or twice, sure. But being used throughout a season? I doubt it.

Plus, there's a world of difference between elite cycling and second division football in a minor country.

 

[del1962]

Once or twice, sure. But being used throughout a season? I doubt it.

Plus, there's a world of difference between elite cycling and second division football in a minor country.

From what I understand about this case, it does not seem like your typical method, i.e. draw blood then store it, as would be used by cyclist.

It was more the immediate withdrawal, oxygenate it (which caused the problem, oxygen bubble) and immediately re-infuse.

 

[El_ojo_del_Tigre]

I was doing a little research on doping in football (I've been working on a Dopeology.com inspired spreadsheet- work in progress, take a look and tell me what you think . https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlOaeNXLgkPodGFsal9ZaWE3amdKLWJLVEFpY1djd0E&usp=sharing) and I came across the curious and tragic case of Luc De Rijck.

Luc De Rijck was a 26 year old striker for the Belgian Second Division team, KV Turnhout, in 1991. At the time of his tragic death, he was the leading goalscorer in the Second Division for that season. The cause of his death, post mortem, was identified as a faulty blood transfusion procedure. From all I could glean on the internet, the doctor responsible was charged, but I have no idea what happened to him.

How revealing is that? A second division player, over 20 years ago, in a country not especially known for great footballing ability or wealth, before the era where football became insanely lucrative- doing blood transfusions. It boggles the mind. These guys were half a decade ahead of the pioneers of blood transfusions in cycling, and a decade ahead of the point where even the lower levels of the sport were involved in it. Could you imagine a Pro Conti team doing blood transfusions in 1991?

Just quickly googled this, stumbled on these 2 articles (one in dutch, one in french):

http://archives.lesoir.be/le-deces-...evant-le-tribunal-corr_t-19930507-Z06QEN.html

http://gazetvanturnhout.be/geschied...aar/12356-kfc-het-overlijden-van-luc-de-rijck

It wasn't a proper blood transfusion, more likely something like this: http://www.optimumhealthm.com/portfolio-view/h-o-t-uv-hematogenous-oxidation-therapy/ . Alternative nonsense in other terms.

 

[Alphabet]

It wasn't a proper blood transfusion, more likely something like this: http://www.optimumhealthm.com/portfolio-view/h-o-t-uv-hematogenous-oxidation-therapy/ . Alternative nonsense in other terms.

Well, it still says that you have to take out blood, enrich it, and then put it back in. That sounds an awful lot like a blood transfusion. In fact, it's probably even more effective than an ordinary blood bag, if done in a larger quantity than 100ml. And it's certainly more sophisticated and most probably more expensive than a normal transfusion.

 

[El_ojo_del_Tigre]

Well, it still says that you have to take out blood, enrich it, and then put it back in. That sounds an awful lot like a blood transfusion. In fact, it's probably even more effective than an ordinary blood bag, if done in a larger quantity than 100ml. And it's certainly more sophisticated and most probably more expensive than a normal transfusion.

Ok, I've looked into it a bit more.

The therapy was probably what the Germans call Hämatogene Oxidationstherapie, or hematogenous oxidation therapy in english -if what Le Soir wrote is correct. The treatment was invented in the 1920's and further developed in 1940's and seems to have never left the realm of alternative medicine. A quick Google search will find all kind of dodgy alternative websites offering the treatment as a cure-all. It's often lumped in with ozone therapy.

There's a piece here that describes the process and expresses some skepticism as to the effectiveness of injecting oxygen in 100ml of blood (in german, google translate works pretty well in this case): http://psiram.com/ge/index.php/Hämatogene_Oxidationstherapie
This is a much more sympatethic take, by a company that dispenses quality labels to practitioners of alternative medicine:
http://www.emr.ch/emr-public/methode.las?c=087 .

I don't think I would call this more advanced than doing a blood transfusion. We know that that works, this... doesn't seem to get much support from mainstream science. Lets call it experimental, if anything. It doesn't seem to have ever caught on amongst pro athletes.

So the story in a nutshell: a Dr wants to get a tired sportsman back to his best. Hears of a wonder treatment, imported by a local businessman (the importer seems to have gotten in the wine business now) and tries it on his player. With undesirable consequences. Pretty sure the treatment wouldn't have been considered doping at the time. It may still not be. I don't give a damn as a doubt it does much when applied properly, though this case shows that it can lead to a permanent decrease in performance when not applied properly. With that said, categorizing it as attempted doping is undoubtedly fair.


Actually, here a few names you may like to add to your spreadsheet:

Johnny Rep, amphetamines: http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/5356/Dopin...-ex-Ajax-Ik-nam-ook-wel-eens-amfetamine.dhtml

Harry Gregg, amphetamines: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/3034341.stm

Yegor Titov, bromantan (taken from "An introduction to drugs in sport: addicted to winning")

Very high hematocrit among Parma players in '98 (Hernan Crespo: 51,6%): http://www.lanacion.com.ar/112713-la-polemica-por-el-doping-tambien-estallo-en-parma

 

[sniper]

Sigurdson (Tottenham Hotspurs) post-match-interview:
"i had a lot of pain before the match but the coach gave me a couple of pain killers so i could play".
(source: bbc match of the day)

 

[gooner]

FIFA and FIFPro(players union) are after dishing out warnings about contaminated fat burners and mental enhancers which can lead to positive tests.

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/footb...s/newsid=2176600/index.html?cid=twitter_share

Brazil now saying they can't do the doping tests in the World Cup next year.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/brazil-says-it-cant-handle-world-cup-drug-testing

 

[gooner]

"I am not naive when it comes to doping. There have already been doping cases in football and this could happen again," the Germany international told Spiegel.

"There is a big difference with other sports, though. Understanding of the game and technique are vital in football and you cannot improve those areas by using doping.

"It's reassuring that you can play football at the highest level without the use of doping.

"I am all in favour of fair play and against cheating in any form. I would be perfectly fine with it if an anti-doping law would be put into place."

Lahm underwent six doping tests during Bayern's treble winning 2012-13 campaign, two of which were unannounced and conducted at his home.

http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/lahm-doping-cant-teach-technique-104000185--spt.html

 

[gooner]

Deco gets a ban for a year for his positive. He only retired from the game last month and probably knew this was coming. At 36 any kind of lengthy ban was going to put his career at an end.

 

[Alphabet]

Ok, I've looked into it a bit more.

The therapy was probably what the Germans call Hämatogene Oxidationstherapie, or hematogenous oxidation therapy in english -if what Le Soir wrote is correct. The treatment was invented in the 1920's and further developed in 1940's and seems to have never left the realm of alternative medicine. A quick Google search will find all kind of dodgy alternative websites offering the treatment as a cure-all. It's often lumped in with ozone therapy.

There's a piece here that describes the process and expresses some skepticism as to the effectiveness of injecting oxygen in 100ml of blood (in german, google translate works pretty well in this case): http://psiram.com/ge/index.php/Hämatogene_Oxidationstherapie
This is a much more sympatethic take, by a company that dispenses quality labels to practitioners of alternative medicine:
http://www.emr.ch/emr-public/methode.las?c=087 .

I don't think I would call this more advanced than doing a blood transfusion. We know that that works, this... doesn't seem to get much support from mainstream science. Lets call it experimental, if anything. It doesn't seem to have ever caught on amongst pro athletes.

So the story in a nutshell: a Dr wants to get a tired sportsman back to his best. Hears of a wonder treatment, imported by a local businessman (the importer seems to have gotten in the wine business now) and tries it on his player. With undesirable consequences. Pretty sure the treatment wouldn't have been considered doping at the time. It may still not be. I don't give a damn as a doubt it does much when applied properly, though this case shows that it can lead to a permanent decrease in performance when not applied properly. With that said, categorizing it as attempted doping is undoubtedly fair.


Actually, here a few names you may like to add to your spreadsheet:

Johnny Rep, amphetamines: http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/5356/Dopin...-ex-Ajax-Ik-nam-ook-wel-eens-amfetamine.dhtml

Harry Gregg, amphetamines: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/3034341.stm

Yegor Titov, bromantan (taken from "An introduction to drugs in sport: addicted to winning")

Very high hematocrit among Parma players in '98 (Hernan Crespo: 51,6%): http://www.lanacion.com.ar/112713-la-polemica-por-el-doping-tambien-estallo-en-parma

Thanks for those. It's quite difficult for me to find proper sources because so little of this is documented, and in most cases, they're random blog posts rather than credible newspaper articles etc.

I've been extremely busy for the last fortnight. Zam keeps harassing me for the spreadsheet lol . I was considering making it publicly editable but I was concerned about somebody deleting it all. When I get the time to, I'll make a duplicate and make that publicly editable so everybody on the Clinic can contribute (it would certainly be far better), but keep the original private so we never lose the data.

 

[Alphabet]

Doing a little more research into the Parma scandal, I've found that every player except Fabio Cannavaro that was in the first team for the 1996-97 season came under suspicion for EPO use. Spectacular. That's added a good 20 odd names to the list.

I've duplicated the spreadsheet. This is the uneditable master list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...al9ZaWE3amdKLWJLVEFpY1djd0E&usp=sharing#gid=0

And here's the one anybody can edit (send me a PM or post here if you add something. so I can update the master list):

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlOaeNXLgkPodDR1TWNwRjltU2gwQTdrV1FqRFdDNnc&usp=sharing

 

[sniper]

good stuff alphabet, keep it up.

somewhere waaay upthread, somebody once came in and presented an interesting self-made assessment/summary of doping cases soccer. that looked pretty exhaustive at the time.

did you look for that?
(sorry, lack time to help you find it)

 

[Ney the Viking]

this one? http://www.4dfoot.com/2013/02/09/doping-in-football-fifty-years-of-evidence/

 

[Marco Pantani]

BVB has been incredible tonight. Unbelievable performance.

 

[the sceptic]

Its pretty hillarious that noone ever tests positive in football. They should at least have some ukrainians test positive once in a while to make it look a bit more real.

But at least talent is still the most important thing I would guess. Not like cycling where nobodies can become the best in the world.