The player unions representing soccer players and cricketers in England have called for recreational drugs to be removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list.
Rather than punishing athletes who test positive for cocaine and marijuana during in-competition testing with a two-year ban for a first offense, the groups are appealing for leniency with a focus on rehabilitation.
“We have to make sure that a guy struggling with a problem can step forward and receive help to get that issue addressed without the possibility of being suspended or — even worse than that — losing his contract,” said John Bramhall, deputy chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association on Monday.
“For the number of players who have tested positive for cocaine, the consequences are far from performance-enhancing and the outcomes in the majority of cases have been very negative,” he said.
Ian Smith, the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s legal director, agreed that recreational drug use isn’t usually about gaining an unfair advantage.
West Bromwich Albion striker Roman Bednar received a three-month suspension last year for possessing recreational drugs. In rugby union, England international Matt Stevens is currently serving a two-year ban for testing positive for cocaine on a match day.
In one of sport’s most notorious cases of recreational drug use, Romania striker Adrian Mutu was banned for seven months and fired by Chelsea after testing positive for cocaine in 2004. A lengthy legal process concluded earlier this year with a court ordering Mutu to pay Chelsea 17 million euros (US$27 million) in compensation.
Mutu is currently suspended after receiving a separate nine-month ban for failing two drug tests for a banned stimulant.
Bramhall wants soccer to be allowed to address the underlying social problems that lead to players using party drugs.
The two players unions are in contact with the Football Association about trying to change the WADA rules.
“Footballers are targets today for [recreational drugs] because of the money they are earning — you want [rules] to try and act as a deterrent,” Trevor Brooking, the Football Association’s director of soccer said.
“You want them to get the treatment needed to get out of it. If the punishment is less, they have to go through a course of rehab and programs to make sure they don’t repeat it. Whatever you say, it will affect their performance. And you don’t want to make it too easy an excuse, that it’s only recreational drugs, because it’s still a serious issue,” Brooking said.
Smith says the status quo “seriously undermines what WADA is trying to achieve” in eradicating doping cheats and criticizes the lack of athlete involvement in the process.
“The reason why marijuana is on the list is political,” Smith said. “WADA is a combination of government and sport — and when you say sport, it is a very narrow part of sport. It’s the international federations, along with governments, and the international federations don’t give a monkeys about athletes — they don’t care. So if someone comes along and says, ‘Let’s have this code, these scriptures, these draconian measures,’ They say, ‘OK’ ... it doesn’t affect their day-to-day lives.”
Smith said it’s noteworthy that when addicts go to hospital following a heroin overdose, the medics don’t immediately call the police.
“The first thought is to treat them,” he said. “Why do we not do the same thing in sport?”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two