Coke, amphetamine users dubbed cheats

[one-eyed]

Drug users dubbed cheats
foxsports.com.au
March 25, 2007

WEST Coast may face claims of being drug cheats and calls to hand back their medals, a leading doping expert has warned.

Science researcher and author Robin Parisotti said he considered any elite sportsmen who used illicit substances to be cheats.

Parisotto, who wrote the book Blood Sport and led the research team that developed advanced drug testing for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, said performance and training could be enhanced by illicit drugs similar to cocaine and amphetamines.

"Provided they are not absolutely off their faces, they can absolutely be very performance enhancing," he said.

But the club doctor at the team beaten by the Eagles in last year's grand final, Sydney's Nathan Gibbs, said he doubted there had been cheating.

"If you were going to use a stimulant, you'd use it an hour or two before the game, so it would still be in your system when they tested," he said.

"The fact there has never been anyone caught suggests it is a recreational problem."

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21440448-23211,00.html

[Moi]

You only have to look at a certain runner at a certain club to know they're not performance enhancing lol

[mightytiges]

LOL

The Eagles won't be stripped of their flag but it would be halirious if it did happen. Judd would probably walk out straight back to Victoria if these morons ever cost him a premiership medallion.

[Moi]

If - and I stress the word IF - it's rife amongst the AFL be hard to single out the Eagles if that's the case.
I reckon this is just the beginning of a huge story that will involve more than WC players.

Dale Lewis came out years ago and pretty much said it was rife, but no-one listened to him.  Shame, because they might have been able to tackle the issue before it got out of hand.  Too late it seems.

[mightytiges]

You're right Moi. The AFL and the clubs have had their head in the sand not wanting to know about this for years and now it's blown up in their faces.

The drug issue/problem is one thing but if it's found players have gained a competitive advantage through taking coke, xtc, speed or ice then the comp's credibility is stuffed. Carlton wouldn't have been the only club cheating the salary cap in the 90s but because it was so blantant and they were so blaisee about it, they got whacked. If a similar situation is occuring at the Eagles with drugs then who knows the AFL may throw the book at them to save it's own neck and reputation.

[Fishfinger]

Yeah, what else is not fair is that for those players it's only 3 sleeps till christmas.