Are there any drug cheats in football?

[Honky Tonx]

Two Russian Women shot putters recently failed drug and gender tests, one was found with half a pound of crack down her nickers whilst the other could not fit her dick in the test tube so the test could not be carried out.
On a more serious point regarding taking medication for simple ailments or conditions, even prescribed drugs are banned and certain types of medication are bared for religious reasons in various countries.

 

[knocky1]

When Fatima Whitbread told her doctor she was starting to get hair on her chest, he asked her how far down it went. "all the way to my balls" she answered.

 

[lost in london]

Cycling and Athletics is very different to football and require a different set of skills to succeed. There is only so much performance enhancing drugs can do, ability to read play and finesse on the ball is something I don't believe they can improve.

So you've never been a bit shit in a match because you're tired? Your coordination off a bit, concentration levels down? Imagine if you got tired 20% later than everyone else on the pitch, you still don't think that would give you an advantage?

 

[Pantani]

Two Russian Women shot putters recently failed drug and gender tests, one was found with half a pound of crack down her nickers whilst the other could not fit her dick in the test tube so the test could not be carried out.
On a more serious point regarding taking medication for simple ailments or conditions, even prescribed drugs are banned and certain types of medication are bared for religious reasons in various countries.

If you need to take things for health reasons, you can get a Therapeutic Usage Exemption (TUE) in most sports. You may not be able to compete whilst using them, but you can at least avoid being banned for two/four years. The abuse of TUE's is rife in certain sports though.

For example the first time Gatlin got popped for performance enhancing drugs it was for a ADHD medicine that he, or his coaches, had forgotten to apply for a TUE for.

 

[Triggaaar]

Are there any drug cheats in football?

100% obviously, definitely, yes. How many, who knows

Only recreational drugs I expect.

Don't be silly.

Footballers need to have levels of fitness that are greater than their predecessors.

Some will dope to allow them to keep running for longer, give them a burst of speed, help them recover from an injury more quickly, etc.

 

[pb21]

Where there is money there is corruption and cheating and there is a lot of money in football.

 

[knocky1]

So you've never been a bit shit in a match because you're tired? Your coordination off a bit, concentration levels down? Imagine if you got tired 20% later than everyone else on the pitch, you still don't think that would give you an advantage?

......or 20% earlier like poor old Bobby.

 

[Pantani]

Cycling and Athletics is very different to football and require a different set of skills to succeed. There is only so much performance enhancing drugs can do, ability to read play and finesse on the ball is something I don't believe they can improve.

This is so naive. Footballers are bigger, faster and stronger than they have ever been. The game is played at a higher pace than it has ever been. Top footballers play upwards of 60 games a year, yet you think that something that allows you to run more, and recover faster would make no difference? Footballers need a high degree of natural talent to make it, of course they do. Therefore, do you think the best cyclists and athletes in the world were just talent-less bums who started taking EPO then could win all the races because of that? Do you think Lance Armstrong was just some fat kid from Texas who stumbled across a guy selling blood boosters, bought a load then became the best cyclist in an era of cheats?

Read this http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jan/29/operation-puerto-doctor-footballers-fuentes and this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/10027763/Operation-Puerto-judge-sparks-outrage-by-ordering-destruction-of-blood-bags.html. Now think about the high energy pressing game favoured by Barcelona and the Spanish National Team. It isn't conclusive proof but it is mighty suspicious.

 

[Bold Seagull]

This is so naive. Footballers are bigger, faster and stronger than they have ever been. The game is played at a higher pace than it has ever been. Top footballers play upwards of 60 games a year, yet you think that something that allows you to run more, and recover faster would make no difference? Footballers need a high degree of natural talent to make it, of course they do. Therefore, do you think the best cyclists and athletes in the world were just talent-less bums who started taking EPO then could win all the races because of that? Do you think Lance Armstrong was just some fat kid from Texas who stumbled across a guy selling blood boosters, bought a load then became the best cyclist in an era of cheats?

Read this http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jan/29/operation-puerto-doctor-footballers-fuentes and this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/10027763/Operation-Puerto-judge-sparks-outrage-by-ordering-destruction-of-blood-bags.html. Now think about the high energy pressing game favoured by Barcelona and the Spanish National Team. It isn't conclusive proof but it is mighty suspicious.

With so many players being analysed on opta stats measuring high intensity efforts, duration of effort, how many times during a game, distance run in a game, distance sprinted etc. major contracts are being won or lost on the quality of these stats. Absolutely no way with this kind of money involved, agents and other stake holders with their hands in the trough, that doping in football isn't more wide spread than people imagine.

 

[Triggaaar]

This is so naive. Footballers are bigger, faster and stronger than they have ever been. The game is played at a higher pace than it has ever been. Top footballers play upwards of 60 games a year, yet you think that something that allows you to run more, and recover faster would make no difference? Footballers need a high degree of natural talent to make it, of course they do. Therefore, do you think the best cyclists and athletes in the world were just talent-less bums who started taking EPO then could win all the races because of that? Do you think Lance Armstrong was just some fat kid from Texas who stumbled across a guy selling blood boosters, bought a load then became the best cyclist in an era of cheats?

It would be naive to think that no footballers cheat, as there are simply too many with too much to gain. However it's also wrong to see no difference between a sport like cycling and football. A player with the skills of Messi would be one of the best whether they doped or not. Doping could help them keep running for longer etc, but just the base skill would mean they'd still be a brilliant player, performing at the top level. The same is not true of cycling - when people like Lance were cheating, a greatly talented and clean cyclist would have had no chance, and could not have won anything.

 

[Honky Tonx]

If you need to take things for health reasons, you can get a Therapeutic Usage Exemption (TUE) in most sports. You may not be able to compete whilst using them, but you can at least avoid being banned for two/four years. The abuse of TUE's is rife in certain sports though.

For example the first time Gatlin got popped for performance enhancing drugs it was for a ADHD medicine that he, or his coaches, had forgotten to apply for a TUE for.

.

I seem to remember at least one Snooker player getting into trouble for using beta blockers.

 

[Pantani]

It would be naive to think that no footballers cheat, as there are simply too many with too much to gain. However it's also wrong to see no difference between a sport like cycling and football. A player with the skills of Messi would be one of the best whether they doped or not. Doping could help them keep running for longer etc, but just the base skill would mean they'd still be a brilliant player, performing at the top level. The same is not true of cycling - when people like Lance were cheating, a greatly talented and clean cyclist would have had no chance, and could not have won anything.

Absolutely, you are correct, Messi is a genius who would succeed no matter what. It is the world of footballers below that where it makes a difference. Usain Bolt, who appears clean, can and does dominate a whole bunch or sprinters who have been (caught) doping. Even in the doping era clean cyclists could and did win the one day races, it was only the three week grand tours that were totally out of reach of the clean cyclist. There is not much point thinking about the genius footballers, let us consider the prosaic ball winning defensive midfielder, the tireless full back getting up and down the wing for 90 minutes, the lightning fast winger who cannot be caught. Of course they need a hell of a lot of footballing talent, but an extra yard of pace, the ability to chase that substitute winger in the 93rd minute, or the ability to cover 15km per game rather than 13km, they all add up and are worth thousands if not millions in transfer fees and wages.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Football and Rugby among others are a bit different than Cycling and Athletics in the way that performance enhancing drugs wont really have the same affect, you can be drugged up to the eyeballs but if you can't trap a football it doesnt matter.

 

[Pantani]

.

I seem to remember at least one Snooker player getting into trouble for using beta blockers.

Indeed, Bill Werbiniuk. He had been taking them for years then snooker banned them. Ended his career almost immediately. He was allowed to take them out of competition though. It is clear that he did need them for health reasons, though at the same time Snooker could not allow him to compete whilst taking them. All this happened because snooker was looking at getting in the Olympics, and the IOC banned propranol (beta blockers).

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Football and Rugby among others are a bit different than Cycling and Athletics in the way that performance enhancing drugs wont really have the same affect, you can be drugged up to the eyeballs but if you can't trap a football it doesnt matter.

I think Pantani answered that. Drugs are not going to make you a professional footballer - if they did I might have a go myself - but stamina, strength, a yard more pace when tiring are all desirable for a footballer.

 

[Pantani]

Football and Rugby among others are a bit different than Cycling and Athletics in the way that performance enhancing drugs wont really have the same affect, you can be drugged up to the eyeballs but if you can't trap a football it doesnt matter.

What if you can trap a football? So can the bloke next to you, but he is faster, stronger and has more stamina, what then?

 

[Triggaaar]

Absolutely, you are correct, Messi is a genius who would succeed no matter what.

To be honest, even footballing geniuses could do better if they doped, as they could improve their burst of speed or their ability to run for longer.

There is not much point thinking about the genius footballers, let us consider the prosaic ball winning defensive midfielder, the tireless full back getting up and down the wing for 90 minutes, the lightning fast winger who cannot be caught. Of course they need a hell of a lot of footballing talent, but an extra yard of pace, the ability to chase that substitute winger in the 93rd minute, or the ability to cover 15km per game rather than 13km, they all add up and are worth thousands if not millions in transfer fees and wages.

I agree they all add up and will make the difference worth while for many footballers. But without doping I think most can still have decent careers. Whether or not they dope might be more related to what's common practice among their colleagues etc. For example, would any put money on the Russian football team being dope free?

 

[Pantani]

For example, would any put money on the Russian football team being dope free?

Imagine how bad they would be if they were clean

 

[knocky1]

Even Messi wants to improve his fitness. He regularly flies to Italy to visit Dr Giuliano Poser, who tells him to not eat pasta or red meat but fresh vegetables, mineral water and Bach flower remedies. After a few days being told this he flies back to Barcelona. Sergio Aguero now visits Dr Julian, as well as many cyclists and other sportsmen.

So homeopathy and Bach flowers is the way forward.....

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

What if you can trap a football? So can the bloke next to you, but he is faster, stronger and has more stamina, what then?

Being faster, Stronger and being fitter is still not going to enable you to be a top top player or have such an affect on players as it does in athletics. drugs can not install the mental strength you need to be a top footballer.


I am not saying there is not drugs in Football, however it is not an athletic sport that you push yourself to the absolute limit like in cycling for example- you have to be fit - yes. but If Chris O Grady was taking steroids he would not be Ronaldo.