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Drug testing gap in Scottish football


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The World Anti Doping Agency has expressed concern over the lack of drug testing in Scottish football.  No tests were carried out in the last nine months of 2016 due to issues with funding of testing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38959264

I don't really understand how this could end up being the case, surely as a member of international bodies the SFA have to comply with anti-doping and ensure it's being enforced?  

This does explain Caley's terrible season up until this point, all the other teams have been doping, cheating b*****ds.

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Early yesterday, I saw this story on TV news and it was about the controversy of only 39% of players in the English Football League having been tested.  The tone of it was that this was a worryingly low figure.

Then it emerged that the figure up here is 0%.  It really does just further emphasise how amateurish and backward the running of our game continues to be.

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A basic urine test costs about 150 quid, say 300 by the time you factor in the admin side of it.  Testing every single player in each of the 12 Premiership squads would cost around 90K. Peanuts.

However, what's interesting is that the UK Anti-Doping Agency (Ukad) funds drug-testing in the English FA but considers the Scottish football position to be so low-risk that they don't fund anything up here.

Have they seen Kris Boyd and a packet of Monster Munch? Definite morning-after behaviour. 

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25 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Early yesterday, I saw this story on TV news and it was about the controversy of only 39% of players in the English Football League having been tested.  The tone of it was that this was a worryingly low figure.

Then it emerged that the figure up here is 0%.  It really does just further emphasise how amateurish and backward the running of our game continues to be.

It would be interesting to see comparative figures from different countries. My instinct is that football is well behind other sports in terms of drug testing procedures.

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21 minutes ago, StandFree03 said:

Low risk? I can think of at least three incidents where players have been caught taking drugs.

Its quite unbelievable that there's no drug testing in Scottish football. It makes you wonder what really goes on behind the scenes. It can hardly be good for young footballers with (relatively) loads of money to know they won't get drug tested?

Let's be clear, we're talking about a nine month period when there have apparently been no tests due to UKADA pulling the funding for them unexpectedly and it taking a while to sort that out. That's somewhat different to "there's no drug testing in Scottish football". The drug testers arrived at Palmerston at least twice last season for random tests. And until this news story I doubt anyone "knew" they wouldn't be tested. Drug tests have always been random unannounced visits. There's nothing particularly unusual in not having a visit in months and no reason anyone would therefore assume no testing was going on.

If it is indeed true that the drug testing in England continues to be funded by UKADA whilst in Scotland it isn't then that's something that should be addressed at government level. Scottish football is already England's poor cousin without being made to pay for things they get free of charge.

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22 minutes ago, Northboy said:

It would be interesting to see comparative figures from different countries. My instinct is that football is well behind other sports in terms of drug testing procedures.

A few years back there was an excruciating story from England after Paddy Kenny failed a drugs test for an over-the-counter stimulant.  His manager at the time, I think Neil Warnock, said that it was the FAs fault because when they sent a representative to talk to the players about drug testing and regulations they sent a young woman who the players spent their time trying to chat up and impress.  The idea that adults should take responsibility for their own careers seemed an alien concept.

I'd wonder what sort of education young players are getting about this side of things and plenty of them will take OTC supplements, you see loads of them in gyms etc.

 

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10 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

If it is indeed true that the drug testing in England continues to be funded by UKADA whilst in Scotland it isn't then that's something that should be addressed at government level. Scottish football is already England's poor cousin without being made to pay for things they get free of charge.

Any idea why UKADA don't fund drug tests in Scottish football? Presumably UKADA themselves have to be funded by someone, whether government of sports authorities.

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45 minutes ago, StandFree03 said:

Low risk? I can think of at least three incidents where players have been caught taking drugs.

Its quite unbelievable that there's no drug testing in Scottish football. It makes you wonder what really goes on behind the scenes. It can hardly be good for young footballers with (relatively) loads of money to know they won't get drug tested?

It's less this side of it that bothers me, tbh. If you're thick enough to get popped for taking recreational drugs as a footballer, then you probably deserve it.

In terms of taking performance enhancing drugs...the opportunities, and potential rewards, are absolutely massive for both clubs and individual players. 

Did Simon Mensing not get done a couple of years ago for a nasal spray or something?

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18 minutes ago, Northboy said:

Any idea why UKADA don't fund drug tests in Scottish football? Presumably UKADA themselves have to be funded by someone, whether government of sports authorities.

I didn't have the slightest knowledge of how the UKADA was funded prior to reading that article. I think the SFA had their own drug testers until a couple of years ago. This article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/34619576 found on a quick google, from October 2015 suggests it's largely govt funding and was at the time about £7m per annum but a cut of 25% was expected.

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2 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I didn't have the slightest knowledge of how the UKADA was funded prior to reading that article. I think the SFA had their own drug testers until a couple of years ago. This article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/34619576 found on a quick google, from October 2015 suggests it's largely govt funding and was at the time about £7m per annum but a cut of 25% was expected.

In contrast the same quick Google search produces the following article http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/uk-anti-doping-to-get-7-increase-in-funding-despite-fears-of-cuts-201377 dated a month later suggesting funding was increased by 7%. Both articles from late 2015 and I can't find anything definitive on current position.

 

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I wish Scottish footballers would use more drugs on match-day; either recreational or performance enhancing. It would at least make the games more exciting.

Actually, now that I think about it, a strong Ketamine addiction may explain Kevin Gomis' slow, feet glued-to-the-ground style of play.

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12 minutes ago, DazzJag said:

There must be a few flying under the radar if this is the case. If rumours are to be believed, Thistle only found out about Jordan McMillan because he was grassed in to the club. 

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Thats some grass that needs smoked!

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