Impossible to stamp out all drug use, warns Taylor

Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has claimed it would be unreasonable to expect young players not to succumb to the temptation of recreational drugs.

While Sebastien Coe’s independent report into drugs in soccer concluded there was no evidence of systematic abuse of performance-enhancing substances within the game, it did highlight a potential problem with so-called social drugs.

Coe urged the Football Association to continue the educational programmes it currently runs in conjunction with the PFA to make young players aware of the problems associated with drug use.

And while Taylor agreed there is plenty of positive work being done, he said footballers should not be regarded as any less susceptible to temptation than any other section of society.

“Footballers are human,” he said. “They can fall into the wrong company just the same as anyone else.

“They have the same problems as any other set of young people. The problems of drugs are an issue for the whole of society, so there is no reason to believe footballers should be immune.

“What we are trying to do though is educate them and teach them life-skills that might steer them in another direction.”

Coincidentally, Seb Coe’s wide-ranging review, commissioned by FA chief executive Mark Palios, was released on the same day as an MPs’ select committee released their own findings of an inquiry into drugs in sport, which highlighted inconsistencies in the treatment of players who fail to take a random test.

They noted that while Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is currently serving an eight-month ban for the offence, 17 members of the Welsh rugby side Penygraig received 15-month suspensions for exactly the same transgression.

Neither punishment however matches the two-year sentence laid down by the World Anti-Doping Agency, a body which neither football nor rugby is currently part of.

And while the MPs opted against offering an opinion as to whether there should be a union between the organisations, they argued that adopting WADA sanctions would be a positive step.

“We are somewhat baffled by the Ferdinand case but what is certain is that he was told to provide a sample … and he did not provide a sample. That is a breach of the rules.

“We note that the Welsh Rugby Union bans were nearly twice as long as that imposed on Mr Ferdinand, a contrast that speaks for itself.

“We recommend that all sports governing bodies in the UK agree a joint tariff of penalties for anti-doping violations based on sanctions set out in the World Anti-Doping Code.”

The conclusions of the MPs’ report have been welcomed by Palios, who has vowed to instigate a 20% increase in the number of random drugs tests to be carried out at training grounds in the coming season.

“I am pleased that the select committee has described the FA as having ‘a tried and tested disciplinary system, adequate resources, and separation of roles’, that allow it to effectively operate and enforce its Doping Control Programme.

“The most important finding to come out of these reports is that football does not have a systematic drug-cheating problem.

“In football, drug-taking issues tend to be largely about recreational, not performance-enhancing drugs.

“That is why, working together with the PFA, we have an education and rehabilitation process which the select committee report describes as ‘enlightening’.”