Football is a popular sport, which is one reason why the players feel increasingly pressured to perform incrementally well every time. Many expectations are pinned on them by the coaches, audiences, and nations, and these scenarios may give rise to Doping in Football. Nowadays, doping in sports is an issue that is being discussed widely, given the ways it has evolved over the years. Many players want to perform better with each passing match and earn rewards for their teams, for their respective Football Clubs, which kind of brings in drugs in football. The need to perform better and enhance one’s agility over the years because the body grows old, many of these issues come up, and one can find newspaper reports of footballer drug rumors.
One cannot be an ultimate judge of whether drugs are necessary or not as part of performance-enhancing drugs in football. Still, everyone has some reason to rely on it, and it cannot be entirely negated. People hear a lot about these drug testing in football being conducted and can be described in detail.
Famous cases of doping allegations in big sport
Countless famous athletes worldwide have been rumored and found to have done doping to enhance their performance in extremely intense and important matches. Some of the famous cases of doping in sports are enlisted as follows.
- Diego Maradona
One of the most famous footballers to have existed out of Team Argentina is Diego Maradona. He forms the classic case of drugs in football. In 1994, just some hours before the World Cup was to occur, Maradona was removed from the team because he had tested positive for a set of drugs, not just one. He did bring in Doping in Football as he was found to be using five types of Ephedrine. This drug helped build more endurance and stamina that lasts for a long time. What was meant to give him an extra edge resulted in him being disqualified.
- Anderson Silva
A legendary Weightlifting Champion, Anderson Silva’s athletic career went for a toss when he tested positive for using drugs. This Brazilian athlete knew very well the consequences but still went on to pump himself up with steroids to have immense performance potential. His career was brought down to rubble as he was completely removed from competitions from then on.
- Adrian Mutu
He was a footballer, specifically the midfielder for the Chelsea team. Around 2003-2004, as drug testing in football was conducted regularly, Adrian, although a terrific player, was found to be loaded with cocaine. Such bad was his condition to retain his energy for a long time that he was suspended from playing for seven months. This was one of the footballer drug rumors that went scandalous. He was removed from the team after that.
- Paolo Guerrero
He was the captain of the Peru team. Before entering the World Cup in 2018, when Doping in Football was already considered such a big deal, he was using cocaine. He also tested positive for using cocaine substances to increased his energy and stamina. After that, many legal cases were fought to restore him to his position, but it was a painful act.
- Pep Guardiola
He was found to be using performance-enhancing drugs in football. He was found to be using a steroid. He was a popular footballer and was the manager of the Spanish team in 2001. He was slammed and was banned from playing for four months. It was hard to imagine why he would bring in Doping in Football, but the conclusions are blurry.
- Jake Livermore
Jake Livermore was an English footballer belonging to the Hull City football club. In 2015, he was found guilty of Doping in Football using the drug cocaine. Cocaine is a difficult drug to rehabilitate from. Citing personal loss, he was using the drugs; however, it led to him being disqualified from the game.
- Jose Enrique Angulo
He had signed up with La Liga, and before he could even debut, he tested positive for using cocaine during the regular drug testing in football. Such bad was his condition that after fighting off fiercely in legal cases, his contract was canceled, and he never really got to play with la Liga. The consequences of doping in sports are wrathful; however, it affected his career immediately.
- Cristiano Ronaldo
He is considered to be a legend when it comes to world Football. Such is his presence that he has created a sensation for fans all over the world. Although he was not found to be using any drugs, he was defying and obstructing the drug testing in football. This raised a lot of accusations and came off as headlines for footballer drug rumors. Such allegory remarks got a lot of attention from his fans all over the world.
The prevalence of so many famous players and athletes engaged in doping shows how the taboo has spread through the world of sports.
Doping in football: What is it, why do players do it?
Doping exists because most of the drugs are performance-enhancing drugs in football. There is so much pressure on the athletes to look a particular way, play excellently, and fit the profile that the audiences have created that they go for doping. Doing drugs enables them to maintain a lean and muscular body. These drugs give them increased stamina so that they do not get easily exhausted during the long hours of the match. Such endurance is necessary, and they feel that the way to show off their athletic prowess is by Doping in Football. For crucial matches, footballers find it advantageous to have that extra energy due to these banned substances’ consumption. Such activities lead to footballer drug rumors.
Today’s view on a football doping
Doping is taken into a lot of importance in today’s world. Doping in football is a crime, and many laws and regulations have been placed to prevent athletes from using such. There are various committees in place to check to dope and to do regular drug testing in football. Many footballers are found to use performance-enhancing drugs in football, boast of a greater build, and perform better with each passing match as the importance of leading the name in world football increases. This build-up of pressure still makes them dope before a match, to soothe their nerves and enhance their agility and muscular strength. Urine and blood samples are usually collected at a particular time before a match season to do the testing, and anyone who tests positive for the set of drugs or banned substance enlisted, strict actions are taken.
Some people do support the usage of drugs in sports; however, in the long run, it affects the liver and kidney functioning of the athlete who has been using such drugs over a long time or short time but increased dosages.
Keeping all these points and being aware of them can make a conscious choice of not getting involved with drugs in football.
Conclusion
The performance-enhancing drugs that the football players use are to maintain their body or improve their performance in the field; over time, it hurts their bodies as a whole. These performance-enhancing drugs in football are mostly steroids and tamper with a person’s body’s hormonal balance. Thereby, players who do Doping in Football are risking their lives in the long run. Expectations and the aspirations of the audiences attached to the players can be terrifying at times, and it causes a lot of stress to the whole team. However, one should be enlightened enough to not indulge in such matters and drugs so that their career, which they have fought for, is not lost all at once.
