GAA player in supplement website controversy

A prominent Gaelic footballer is endorsing a website that advertises a banned supplement, which may be linked to a number of deaths.

The player is pictured on the home page of a website that has sold the prohibited pre-workout supplement, Jack-3D.

Although there is no suggestion the player has taken the supplement, the revelation backs up sports nutrition expert Dr Sharon Madigan’s concerns about the GAA’s attitude to the potential dangers of taking supplements.

The Irish Examiner yesterday carried part of Madigan’s address to the Ulster GAA coaching and development conference last Saturday when she claimed the organisation hadn’t “grasped” what they could be responsible for.

Madigan highlighted the change to the world’s anti-doping code from January 1, that now means coaches, trainers, nutritionists and others in authority are also liable for what players put into their bodies.

The Irish Sports Council’s anti-doping programme director Dr Una May said the changes to the anti-doping code, which include increased bans from two to four years, were made to reflect how far-reaching the situation has become.

“It’s important for our athletes to understand that there is a recognition out there that the athlete isn’t always the only person involved when there is a case of an anti-doping rule violation. Sometimes the athlete can be a victim in the situation when there’s complicity or involvement of an athlete’s support personnel.

“If an athlete is caught up in something, it’s a little unfair that the athlete is the only person who is punished. The situation regarding Russian athletes at the moment is a clear example of that. It’s the same in cycling when the athlete is not gaining access to the information on their own. They’re getting help and assistance.”

But the fact that an athlete is abetted in breaching an anti-doping code is not a mitigating factor. Dr May said: “An athlete needs to know that they can’t just say ‘somebody gave it to me’. That will never be a successful defence. They need to check themselves.

“It’s important that the people around them giving that advice should be careful as well in that they could be implicated in some way if an athlete is given something on the understanding it’s clean, protected, checked and batch tested.”

May added: “We’re blue in the face talking about supplements. It’s not really our area of business. We’re involved in doping, but supplements pose a doping risk and that’s where we come into it.”