Sport and steroids. The two subjects have been inextricably linked for 50 years. The topic of performance enhancing drugs is one that has been highlighted in almost every major sport in the world. Baseball, basketball, American football, hockey, rugby, athletics and cycling.
It seems that football is not immune to this problem. In an article published by Sunday time It was revealed that UEFA had recently commissioned a study to determine the extent of anabolic steroid use in European football. Using urine tests from 4,000 urine tests taken during the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League and the last two European Championships, scientists were able to determine that 68 of the 879 players tested may have been using be anabolic steroids.
This isn’t the first time football and steroids have been linked. Serie A in the 1980s was besieged by steroid allegations, including the deaths of four Fiorentina players believed to have been due to steroid use (these claims have never been verified). In 2001, then Brescia defender Pep Guardiola was banned after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone. Guardiola fought the accusations for years and was eventually exonerated. Other players, Chelsea’s Adrian Mutu and Jaap Stam, were also suspended after testing positive for banned substances.
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With 7.7 percent of those tested having what are considered high testosterone levels, this obviously raises serious red flags for the international football community. Since the sample includes players from countries outside Europe and, in the case of the European Championship, players who play club football outside Europe. It’s a question that may seem inextricably European, but the ramifications of such a study extend well beyond the continent.
What’s interesting about all the recent talk about anabolic steroid use in soccer is how silent Major League Soccer has remained on the issue. This is partly due to the lack of suspension. In league history, only three players have been suspended for illegal substances (Jon Conway and Jeff Parke of the New York Red Bulls in 2008), with both players claiming to have taken dietary supplements. In 2011, Columbus Crew defender Josh Williams was suspended for 10 days for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
A quick glance at the league’s website provides little to no information on league policy. The league must test players in accordance with FIFA statutes, but these rules are very open to interpretation. It is also difficult to take FIFA seriously when it mentions in its own report that it is no possibility of carrying out tests on players when they are out of competition.
While this may seem like a good thing, it should raise a certain level of suspicion. How can 7.7% of European players have abnormally high testosterone levels when no MLS player has tested positive for a banned substance in seven years?
Maybe the players are being selfless or maybe MLS teams and the league are doing a good job developing methods and routines that carefully consider these issues. But it seems almost too good to be true that in a country where performance-enhancing drug use in sports is rampant and in a sport where it is known to occur, MLS and the lower divisions of American soccer are immune against this problem.
The problem with professional sports leagues and performance-enhancing drugs is that they are backwards on issues like these. Rather than confronting issues in advance, questions are ignored and issues are swept under the rug. The example of drug use in Major League Baseball and having to be questioned in front of Congress is a perfect example of a league that had to publicly humiliate itself to admit its own shortcomings.
MLS can take the lead on this issue and it does not require much change from its current position. The league has already shown in its handling of substance abuse issues like alcohol and drugs that it can suspend players when they have problems, but give them the help they need to overcome their problems. By treating the issue as a health issue and not one of ostracism, they can serve as an example to the rest of the football world.
Next: DC United’s Markus Halsti has been called up to the Finland national team.
