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Speaker's
Corner 11 May 2001
Only a dope uses
dope
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A
story in today's Dutch daily newspaper "De Volkskrant" has shed
some light on the background to the current doping affair involving Edgar
Davids and Frank de Boer. It seems that, in the run-up to Euro 2000,
Dutch players were warned by the Oranje squad's official physician of the
dangers of using dietary supplements that contained nandrolone. It also
turns out that players insisted on using their personal medical advisers
during the World Cup tournament in 1998, against the wishes of the Dutch
FA. Top footballers have to endure gruelling schedules of domestic,
European and international matches which tax their bodies to extremes.
Clubs and fans alike expect the best from their heroes and, combined with
the financial pressures to excel (as money takes over as the prime
motivating influence in the sport), this exerts growing pressure to
succeed at any cost. The players run the risks of being given 'medicines',
which could contain banned ingredients, by overambitious advisers (with
their own eyes set on the big bucks at the end of the top-sporting
rainbow). The situation for Davids and De Boer can result in UEFA and FIFA
handing out lengthy 'sentences' and the devastating effects of such
punishment will have a huge psychological effect on Dutch football. We
await the findings of the 2nd opinion tests and think it high time some
commonsense descended on football and sport in general. Although it goes
without saying that the principle "innocent until proven guilty"
applies in this current situation there can also be little doubt that
nowadays there are few innocents in top sport in terms of knowing what
supplements can safely be taken and what should be avoided like the
plague. The monetary (and ego-fulfilling) rewards at the top are the
temptations that drive people, in sport and elsewhere, to do things others
wouldn't dream of. It's common knowledge that the muscle-bound fitness
addict at your local gymn will also reach for steroids and other
'health-improvers' in the struggle to obtain/maintain the wished-for
body-image. It's no longer a surprise to the public that sports-people
make use of the same substances to get a medal despite all the long-term
risk to health and career. Taking into consideration how much work goes
into achieving their successes it really is a question of foolhardiness
and arrogance to take the chances that some seem willing to take. It
really is a case of only fools dare to go where angels fear to tread when
every 'medicine' known to science is exploited to reach the summit and as
we all know from the peak it sure is a long way down!
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copyright © 2001 [FootballNL].
All rights reserved.
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