Football has drug problem - survey

Almost 50% of professional players believe football has a drug problem.

A survey of 700 players for tomorrow night’s ‘Real Story’ programme on BBC1 has revealed that 46% of professionals are aware of a colleague using recreational drugs while the same number also believe the sport is facing a substance-abuse problem.

The English Football Association conduct random testing after games and at training grounds but the programme reveals 5.8% of players surveyed claimed to have advanced warning.

Very few players fail those tests, giving football the image of being a relatively clean sport while athletics, weightlifting and cycling suffer.

Although almost half of the players questioned knew of drug users in the game, only 5.6% of the 700 surveyed were aware of players using performance-enhancing substances.

The most high-profile failed tests in football have been for recreational drugs, with former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Bosnich (cocaine) currently serving a nine-month ban and England international Lee Bowyer (marijuana) having been suspended in 1995.

Professor Ivan Waddington from the University of Leicester, who conducted the survey, tells the programme that football is facing more of a threat than had previously been thought.

He said: “It certainly is a significant minority and it suggests that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is rather more widespread than the FA test results would indicate.

“Young players between 19 and 24, who were most likely to report they knew players who used drugs, suggest that the increase is a very recent phenomenon.”

:: ‘Real Story’ will be shown tomorrow at 7.30pm on BBC1.