NFR Aussie sport rife with drugs and crime links. Could the Premier League be?

[Snibbo]

A year-long government investigation has found widespread use of banned drugs in Australian professional sport and links with organised crime.
The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans.

The Australian Crime Commission released the findings of a 12-month investigation into the integrity of Australian sport and the relationship between professional sporting bodies, prohibited substances and organised crime.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/probe-finds-widespread-use-of-drugs-in-sport-crime-links-20130207-2dzw1.html#ixzz2KAucw4fv

[McBridefan1]

It's a phaquin penal colony, I'd be upset if there weren't drugs and organized crime...

[RaySmith]

I think that football is a sport where there isn't that much benefit to be gained from drug taking, as compared to sports which rely on strength and endurance - like cycling and athletics.

What would be the point in taking  dangerous to oneself blood booster epo to get you through 90 mins of football, with half time in between? or getting the body pumped with muscle when it would only slow you down?

Though I think dope testing has been shown to be very lax in the Prem, and football generally, with failed tests hushed up - often for 'recreational' drugs, likewise missing tests, or not being available for them, like Rio Ferdinand who was punished, of course.

[Snibbo]

I think that football is a sport where there isn't that much benefit to be gained from drug taking, as compared to sports which rely on strength and endurance - like cycling and athletics.

The main scandal here seems to be Aussie Rules.  Players taking peptides to speed up recovery from injury and boost muscle gain. I would think both those things would be very useful in (proper) football.

[RaySmith]

You're probably right - but isn't Aussie Rules a game that depends more on physical strength, like rugby, than proper football?

[epsomraver]

It's a phaquin penal colony, I'd be upset if there weren't drugs and organized crime...

You really know how to endear yourself to a nation,History shows more were sent to your country as a colony than OZ

[TonyGilroy]

It's a phaquin penal colony, I'd be upset if there weren't drugs and organized crime...

You really know how to endear yourself to a nation,History shows more were sent to your country as a colony than OZ

"Your country?"

They're all immigrants. The indigenous population was massacred. Just like Australia of course.

[the nutflush]

You're probably right - but isn't Aussie Rules a game that depends more on physical strength, like rugby, than proper football?

Aussie Rules is a combination of both.  Most Aussie Rules players that play in the midfield will cover way more distance in a game compared to premier league midfielders.  There is also way more body contact so they have to have the physical strength aspect to tackle and withstand being hit but also the endurance aspect to cover the ground required to see out 120 minutes of football.

Im from Australia.  I live here in Melbourne where one of the Melbourne based teams has been at the heart of this scandal and it is quickly spreading.  Im not surprised to be honest.  We have the head honcho in charge of the whole league who lives with his head in the sand and has been saying for ages "our sport is the cleanest in the world".  Its bullpoo.  Im not surprised this scandal has come out and I wouldnt be surprised to see it cross over to the round ball brand of football.

Even sports like tennis need more attention.  I played tennis competitively for years and some of the things I see these days makes me wonder.  yeah the game has progressed with the technology.  But I hear that testing in tennis is woefully inadequate.  I heard that the ATPs annual budget for drug testing is less than what Novak Djokovic picked up in prizemoney for winning the Australian Open.

[cottage cheese]

well this explains why Hewit was able to hold his stamina when he won Wimbledon...

[the nutflush]

well this explains why Hewit was able to hold his stamina when he won Wimbledon...

He was the last of the skinny little whippets to win a major and get to number one.  Its a power game these days.  Youve got to be at least 6 ft 2 minimum and be able to serve 210 to be a contender.  I cant believe there havent been more drug scandals in tennis.  So many scandals have been uncovered in cycling.  Why not tennis.  I watched some matches at the Australian Open recently.  38 degrees on a hard court.  Four and a half hour five set match.  One guy got wheeled off in a chair and put on a drip immediately after his match.  Surely there are some players out there trying to get an edge.  Theres too much money at stake in these sports.  Where theres so much money at stake people will always try to get an unfair edge.  Look at the all the stockmarket scandals you see about insider trading and market rigging by the big trading banks.  Why would sport be any different?

[Hazey]

There appear to be few major areas of concern.

The first is the taking of illicit drugs, performance/recovery enhancing drugs has been today listed as being rife across a majority of professional sports, not just AFL.  Both codes of rugby, swimming, cycling, rowing/kyaking were all listed in today'sm press conference by the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Sport and Minister of Justice.

The second area which is totally unacceptable is that these drugs, some of which have not been trialled on humans, were given with the knowledge of coaches, doctors, physio's, pharmacists etc.  In some cases whole teams were administered with these products.

The illegal pharmaceuticals have apparently been sourced from organised crime syndicates.  This leads to concern that now you have professional athletes and organised crime moving in the same circles - which can (and has) led to match fixing and other gambling issues across a wide range of sports.  There is concern that the A-League is especially vulnerable to match fixing with it's growing popularity in Asia and the ever growing amount of gambling options available to bet on.

It will be very interesting to see how deep the rot has set in.  The feds and other government bodies today put out a warning that they know much more than anyone thinks and people should be getting ready to have their door knocked on.

From this I would like to see pain killing injections banned (how can they not be classed as performance enhancing, when if athletes didnt have them they couldnt play??) and gambling on games restricted to win/loss and maybe margin.

Just my thoughts.

[Snibbo]

It's probably an inevitable result of the vast amounts of money now involved in sport, and the uncritical adulation given to sports stars.

Impossible to put the cat back in the bag, but if we could get back to sport being just another profession, with levels of wages comparable to any other profession (as it was say 40 years ago), then the incentives to cheat would be much less.

But at least people are starting to realise that their idols, of course, have feet of clay.

[McBridefan1]

I think that football is a sport where there isn't that much benefit to be gained from drug taking, as compared to sports which rely on strength and endurance - like cycling and athletics.

What would be the point in taking  dangerous to oneself blood booster epo to get you through 90 mins of football, with half time in between? or getting the body pumped with muscle when it would only slow you down?

Though I think dope testing has been shown to be very lax in the Prem, and football generally, with failed tests hushed up - often for 'recreational' drugs, likewise missing tests, or not being available for them, like Rio Ferdinand who was punished, of course.

you use the drugs to "heal" after training, which allows for more intense workouts... has nothing to do with game day.

[McBridefan1]

It's a phaquin penal colony, I'd be upset if there weren't drugs and organized crime...

You really know how to endear yourself to a nation,History shows more were sent to your country as a colony than OZ

man you people have no phaakin sense of humour... "My country" was started by puritans and our sport is just as dirty... whenever an american says anything you thin skinned old women get all bent out of shape. waaaaaah your country is worse than mine... lol who gives a flying phaq?

[Riverside]

Reminds me when I last went to Australia
At passport control I was asked if I had a criminal record
I replied that I didn't think it was still necessary :-)

[btings]

I am much more concerned over match fixing than drugs.