PEDs in football

[Badunk]

I firmly believe that they're very prevalent and that the only reason we've not had the type of scandal that has blighted cycling and now athletics, is the amount of money involved in the sport and the amount of vested interests in keeping it under wraps. Testing is a drop in the ocean compared to cycling. The money to be made in the game, for what is a relatively short career, will make it difficult to decide not to use them, especially if your opponents are doing it. I just don't think FIFA or UEFA are that bothered, and when the head of the IAAF is supposed to have taken bribes to keep positive tests a secret, it wouldn't surprise me if they were doing the same. Plus, the punishments for the few who have been caught have been pretty weak, which isn't gonna deter anyone.

I think it's just a question of when the story breaks and who takes the fall. What do you reckon?

 

[sullydnl]

It would be very naive to think there isn't massive PED use in football.

 

[Wittmann45]

There was that scandal a few years back with Spanish football and blood doping. Fuentes was the doctor who was caught and he claimed to have been involved with blood doping with several Spanish footballers.

Its prevalent in all sports. Seems to have become especially widespread in the 80s, and just proceeded from there into the 90s and 2000s. Sports Illustrated did a number of stories about PEDs in baseball that really highlighted its widespread use and the reason why individual players use this to their advantage, even though it seems less an advantage and more a leveling of the field. ESPN had a documentary about the 1988 Seoul Olympics 100m final which is now seen as one of the dirtiest races of all time. Ben Johnson was caught, but almost every single racer in the finals, besides 2, were caught using PEDs or caught with an unusually high amount of masking agents in their system at one point in their careers. They had a number of really interesting interviews with the American team's own doctor/drug tester who acknowledged that he was told to test American athletes leading up to the 88 Olympics in order to find ways to mask PEDs.

No matter what the authorities try, athletes seem to be one step ahead. Whether it is in the vested interest of the authorities to catch every offense is another question

 

[DJ Jeff]

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

The only PED I know a fair bit about is the one that lightened cyclists blood and allowed respiration to occur faster, thus improving their stamina. When we say performance enhancer do we solely mean stamina enhancers?

 

[NinjaFletch]

I think football both largely doesn't care, because it can pretend to be clean simply be never finding anyone doing it, and also is less susceptible to cheating because of the type of sport it is.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

The only PED I know a fair bit about is the one that lightened cyclists blood and allowed respiration to occur faster, thus improving their stamina. When we say performance enhancer do we solely mean stamina enhancers?

It's the same thing really, isn't it? More stamina a player has the better he is.

 

[Trizy]

I don't care what anyone says, that Barcelona 2008-2012 team was on drugs.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Are millionaire footballers as desperate to win as athletes in other sports whose livelihood depends on being the best?

I don't think so, and IMO football at the top level is probably one of the cleanest sports

 

[Randall Flagg]

I don't care what anyone says, that Barcelona 2008-2012 team was on drugs.

But they are still winning. Are they still on the juice?

All players and staff who have come and gone. And none of them have leaked anything?

 

[Wumminator]

I am 100% sure every team who has knocked us out of the CL in the last 10 years has used PED's.

 

[BigDunc9]

But they are still winning. Are they still on the juice?

All players and staff who have come and gone. And none of them have leaked anything?

Obviously the only way to beat Uniteds greatest team was to be on drugs.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Utd got to 3 finals in four years. Do you lads suspect there might have been something dodgy going on?

 

[SirAF]

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

The only PED I know a fair bit about is the one that lightened cyclists blood and allowed respiration to occur faster, thus improving their stamina. When we say performance enhancer do we solely mean stamina enhancers?

I also think that there is quite a widespread use of PEDs in football. As for what type it is I would guess mostly for speeding up recovery. Cortisone?

 

[Mibabalou]

I'm very very confident that most if not all top sides are doing something.

The recovery times, the stamina, the energy they all have is mind boggling.


Maybe all those Spanish heart problems has something to do with it.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

I don't see any reason why PED abuse wouldn't be widespread in professional football. Every other sport has major issues with doping, why would football be any different?

I expect illegal drugs are commonly used to help rehabilitate players from injury sooner, and to improve general stamina. Look how much faster the game is now compared to previous decades, and the tempo is sustained throughout 90 minutes, and over more games in a season.

 

[matherto]

Pretty sure that doctor from Spain that got caught said if he spoke what he knew then Spain would be stripped of their European and World Cup medals.

I saw a thread on Reddit about this today

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/3s9a9d/how_prominent_is_doping_in_football_arsene_wenger/

Some examples in there albeit only rumours.

Wouldn't surprise me at all if people were doping all the way to the top. Lax testing measures and massive rewards.

 

[Raoul]

PEDs are everywhere and there's nothing wrong with it as long as it's not in competitive sport.

 

[Manny]

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

The only PED I know a fair bit about is the one that lightened cyclists blood and allowed respiration to occur faster, thus improving their stamina. When we say performance enhancer do we solely mean stamina enhancers?

Theres tons of stuff out there. But considering the congested fixture lists, recoveries from training and recoveries from injuries I think it's more then likely the top guys in the sport, at one point or another have used. Especially the ones who seem to make it into every starting lineup and don't seem to ever get rested.

I seriously doubt clubs would be involved, too much of a risk to reputation. The player would more then likely do it of his own back.

 

[predator]

I personally don't think there is. I think there would be more people within the game speaking out about it don't you think?

The Barcelona team a few years back were just collectively a much better team than anyone in world football. Unless they had what Bradley Cooper has in limitless I can't see how a PED can do such miracles for a club as a team.

 

[rednev]

I don't think that PED use is as prevalent as it is in sports such as athletics/cycling (where at the highest level PEDs are a requirement rather than an option) or rugby/American footall but it would be naive to think that it isn't fairly widespread due to that facts that a.) footballers will benefit hugely from PED use and that b.) the testing system means that it's incredibly easy to take a cocktail of banned PEDs and still easily walk through a drugs test. I doubt it is sysematic like it is in other sports but it's probably a as

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

The only PED I know a fair bit about is the one that lightened cyclists blood and allowed respiration to occur faster, thus improving their stamina. When we say performance enhancer do we solely mean stamina enhancers?

A footballer who wants to gain an edge could run a simple stack which might look something like:

1.) EPO (or these days something more sophisticated) to drastically increase endurance capacity
2.) A simple injectable anabolic steroid like testosterone suspension to increase muscle mass, strength and aggression
3.) HGH is speed up recovery and promote strength and muscle gains.

All of these are basic PEDs that are virtually undetectable. For example as far as testosterone suspension is concerned, a player could inject literally just before a drugs test to increase his testosterone levels by 3.9 its normal level and this would result in a pass. If increasing his testosterone levels by 3.9 is not enough, he could add in a basic oral steroid (half-life as little as 8 hours) at strategic points in the season/day and he would have to be pretty stupid to get caught. Likewise EPO (or whatever more sophisticated alternative top level endurance athletes probably use) is just a case of injecting and monitoring blood levels strategically, and HGH I don't even think is tested.

 

[Wade3]

Are millionaire footballers as desperate to win as athletes in other sports whose livelihood depends on being the best?

I don't think so, and IMO football at the top level is probably one of the cleanest sports

They're desperate because the pressure on them to perform well consistently is high and the higher the level of competition is, the more fans and sponsors etc. you have behind it, the higher that pressure becomes. Thus, I wouldn't rule it out based on the assumption that these guys don't have to do it due to their financial security.

 

[mikey_d]

I also think that there is quite a widespread use of PEDs in football. As for what type it is I would guess mostly for speeding up recovery. Cortisone?

Cortisone injections are OK to use. Club doctors and physios use them a lot.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Pep Guardiola failed several drugs tests in his playing days...

 

[Brown Toothpick]

@Americano come and educate the masses.

 

[SirAF]

Cortisone injections are OK to use. Club doctors and physios use them a lot.

Aha, I did not know that! Cheers.

 

[Brown Toothpick]

Pep Guardiola failed several drugs tests in his playing days...

Cleared of all charges. Dietary supplements that other players also took and got banned for at the time.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Cleared of all charges. Dietary supplements that other players also took and got banned for at the time.

Sure.

 

[Americano]

Can someone explain to me what sort of PEDs you guys suspect are being used in players?

Every single one available. And probably some we haven't heard of and they don't know how to test for yet.

 

[fishfingers15]

I bet there are plenty of shady stuff like blood spinning, horse placenta (FFS) and related stuff that are being done for injury treatment, but not sure of doping with PED's.

 

[mikey_d]

In the uk I'm pretty sure samples are taken by an independent body with an fa supervisor and the samples are reported on by a wada laboratory.

The fa also say how many samples have been taken and how many times the rules have been broken.

Last year 2286 samples taken 9 rules broken. Most would likely be honest mistakes or prescription drugs I would have thought. Only thing that was flagged up in that period I think was jake Livermore.

 

[Badunk]

It's so prevalent in American Football that high school kids are on them. The rewards for the professional American football players are probably the most equivalent for soccer. The top guys are on millions, sometimes even 7 figures a year, plus endorsements, and I think the increase in speed, stamina, recovery, etc, are roughly on a par with how soccer has improved over the same time frame.

I just can't fathom a scenario where, maybe just the top clubs, look at the likes of EPO and don't think that it'll give them the edge. The rewards are massive, the risks are relatively small, and the chances of getting caught are virtually non existent.

 

[mikey_d]

Aha, I did not know that! Cheers.

It's a bit of a problem actually. I've seen 2 ex footballers through my career that had them during the 80's that have awful joints as a result now.

 

[RoadTrip]

I think it's really important to also remember that whilst PED use does certainly exist and enhance performance, you cannot compare it so simply with cycling and athletics because of the impact.

Football has many factors that impact performance and whilst it certainly boosts strength and speed which are key to the game, there is also other things also key which it don't help, such as technique for example.

In cycling and athletics, it's pretty much a direct impact.

 

[Americano]

It's so prevalent in American Football that high school kids are on them.

Every sport. Swimming, golf, tennis...

Soccerfootball has turned out to be the most corrupt sport in the world. There is no way it is clean & free of doping. That is just a fantasy.

 

[ivaldo]

I bet there are plenty of shady stuff like blood spinning, horse placenta (FFS) and related stuff that are being done for injury treatment, but not sure of doping with PED's.

Aye you wouldn't see the same effect in football as you have in Athletics and Cycling, the mental aspect in football is so much more prominent in football than it is in the others.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

The fact that there have been NO failed tests for PEDs in football over the past decade basically means it must be so widespread that more or less everyone is doing it and covering it up.

 

[Americano]

Football has many factors that impact performance and whilst it certainly boosts strength and speed which are key to the game, there is also other things also key which it don't help, such as technique for example.

They said the same thing about baseball. "Steroids can't make you hit a baseball better, that is pure skill". Guess what? All the top hitters were on steroids.

It's part of the fantasy - you want these guys to be clean, so you come up with rationalizations for why they must be clean.

 

[Brightonian]

The reason no one really cares that much is that doping wouldn't have so much effect in football. In fine margin sports like athletics or cycling doping can win you races. Doping alone won't win you football matches. The game is too messy.

I mean, imagine if Barca's 09-11 team actually had been blood doping... the advantage it would have given them compared to the advantage they got from just being much better at football than everyone else would have been laughably minimal.

And to address the above point, I'm not saying the sport's clean. Just that I don't think it makes that much difference if it isn't. I doubt it's 'widespread' in the same way that it has been and is in cycling and athletics because it just isn't worth it for fine margin improvements.

 

[MoskvaRed]

If their use is/was widespread in sports where the money involved is chickenfeed compared to football, then it would be amazing if people in football weren't at least trying to use drugs to seek to gain an advantage. As it's a team sport, the effect is maybe less easy to spot compared to cycling or athletics but when a team displays, for example, unnatural energy levels in a pressing game employed over a whole season, it raises a red flag. The Barcelona team under Guardiola strayed very close to that credibility threshold in my view.

 

[Badunk]

They said the same thing about baseball. "Steroids can't make you hit a baseball better, that is pure skill". Guess what? All the top hitters were on steroids.

It's part of the fantasy - you want these guys to be clean, so you come up with rationalizations for why they must be clean.

This is a large part of the reason for the thread. To me, it's blatantly obvious that it's happening and has been happening for a long long time. However, there is a sizable percentage of people who think that football is mainly down to skill and that there isn't the same urge to use substances which improve other attributes.