by Tony Attwood
Normally speaking the World Anti-Doping Agency is considered to be the king-pins, the law makers, the absolute arbiters. They say a drug is a performance enhancer, and then it is. No argument, none of this “I just took it to relieve a headache and didn’t know” type of excuse. Take it and you are out.
Except in football.
Football has for quite a long time being going its own way – Dinamo Zagreb’s Arijan Ademi failed a drug test after they beat Arsenal in the Champions League group stage. His B Sample was tested, found to be positive also, and he was banned for four years although he constantly protested he had done nothing wrong. “I am at a loss of words to describe how terrible I feel,” he said. “I am not guilty, I know that I did nothing wrong but still received a drastic punishment.”
Not drastic enough for some of us, because the match result stood. Uefa’s argument is that this is just one player in eleven, so the result should stand. I find that nonsensical, and have often written about this, but to no avail.
Then in April Mamadou Sakho failed drugs test following a Europa League game between Liverpool and Man U… and was given a provisional 30 day ban. We all expected the usual ban. Kolo Toure got a six month ban for the same sort of thing in 2011.
But then in May, out of the blue, and with no previous warning, Uefa refused to ban the player. He had been found playing with a banned substance in his body, and Uefa lifted the suspension.
As Untold reported, the explanation is that Uefa said they were launching their own investigation into whether the fat-burning substance the player has been shown to have taken should be on the banned list.
In the report I noted that, “The implication of this is massive, for it means that instead of the Wada list being inviolable, and punishment automatic for anyone caught out, now Uefa, totally on its own, is doing its own investigation into the drug, and could well come up with the notion that there is nothing wrong with the drug vis a vis a sports person taking it.
“It would then mean there is one list of banned substances for every other sport played internationally, and another one for European football.”
Emphasising what it is doing, Uefa said, “The player would thus be free to play as from tomorrow. A decision on the case will be made within the next few days.”
Now this is not the first time Uefa has fought against WADA. Indeed in 2009 Uefa joined Fifa in opposing a rule that would allow drug-testers to know the whereabouts of top footballers for an hour each day.
The two most corrupt and disreputable bodies in world sport issued a joint statement saying: “The governing bodies of Fifa and Uefa formally reject the stance taken by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) concerning the ‘whereabouts’ rule and, more specifically, the individual location of team sports’ athletes.”
The statement stressed the difference between athletes who mostly train on their own and team sportsmen who are often easily locatable at their training grounds. However, players serving suspensions or carrying long-term injuries were agreed to be exceptions.
“Fifa and Uefa therefore oppose the individual ‘whereabouts’ rule, and want to see it replaced by collective location rules, within the scope of the team and within the stadium infrastructure,” it continued.
The need to protect the private life of players was cited as a strong justification for not allowing testers access to players during their summer break.
WADA’s code decreed that football should fall in line with other sports and provide players’ location for an hour each day, including summer holidays.
Sepp Blatter (remember him?) said, “We are a little bit surprised that through certain declarations [WADA] say there will be no exceptions made. It is not a question of not fighting doping but one should not really go for witch-hunting because witch-hunting has never led to a positive result.”
Eventually Uefa and Fifa did fit in with the rules, but clearly the exchange left a sour taste in the mouths of the Uefa execs and now they are fighting back.
There has been only a tiny amount of coverage on the media about Uefa’s extraordinary rejection of WADA’s list, a rejection that sets them outside of the anti-doping rules that govern other sports. But it is a rejection which, given that it has now stood, does set football outside of the anti-doping regs. If a player gets caught during the forthcoming championships in France, he can use the precedent already set by Uefa to say, “we don’t think that drug should be on the WADA list” and thus have their drugs finding set aside.
Quite why the media won’t cover the story is beyond me. But then they never covered the change in Swiss law that led to the arrests of Fifa execs, merely leaping in once the move took place. Whether they will jump to the subject later is anyone’s guess. Uefa and as we showed the other day Fifa, certainly do seem to have the UK media in their pockets.
- Arsenal buy a “spitsbroer*”.Walter and Arsenal Belgium reveal the latest transfer drama from behind the scenes
- Apparently it wasn’t Vardy we were after at all. Here’s who we are actually getting…
- What we need is football Journalism 2.0, not football journalism 0.1 which is where we seem to be stuck.
Insult of the day…
Thou mad misleader of the brain-sick son! (Henry VI Part 2)
(A new “Insult of the day” appears on the Untold home page every day)
All I can say is it is setting a wrong precedent in football globally because it is the most popular sport in the world. There are young kids whose dream it is to play for national and club colours. Now these two juggernauts of football administration is saying it’s okay for you to do whatever it takes to improve your stamina and physical condition to play the game of football because we have a lot of money to make, and we will share it with the clubs as well. The whole point of watching sports and in this case football is to see your teams endurance physically and mentally, to push themselves when everyone thinks they can’t and score a goal. I guess if you see some of the matches played four to five decades ago, there us so much difference compared to what you see today. I hope that’s not the case because then there nothing truly special to cheer for, is there??
The more articles like this I read, the more depressing it gets.
The media simply MUST know all these facts yet dick****s such as, Howard, Reade, Durham, Samuel, Holt etc, still prefer to spend there time slagging off Wenger, rather than reporting on this kind of thing.
The idea of actually doing any real journalism, let alone ‘investigative Journalism’ seems to of passed them by completely.
It all points to a very depressing and worrying conclusion, and that is that the media are at the very least compliant to what is going on, but worse, most likely even complicit.
I’m sure at least some of those dipshits, or at least there cronies, read this site and when they do they should hang there pathetic little heads in shame.
Some of them even win awards for crying out loud. What the f*** for?
Is there actually an award for how far you can stick you head up someone’s arse?
No matter how hard that wall is you keep banging your head against please keep going because you never know, one day, just maybe, cracks might begin to appear.
Keep up the good work.
Jambug,
As I said in a earlier article..”FIFA are the biggest legalised crooks in the world”.
With reference to the likes of Durham especially, did you ever notice how he set out his programme to ensure every other football supporter was so pleased his team wasn’t getting slagged off. they agreed with his views? I see this as the same way the school bully made sure he had the majority on his side, then carried on with his bile and crap.
I have stopped listening to talksport because of this so called “sport expert” along woth MOTD and Alan Shearer and SKy with Merson.
Do you know something I feel all the better for it!
Maybe the referres should be tested for drugs (Riley and Dean in particular) as they must be hallucinating when making some of their decisions!!
Ken 1945 – “FIFA are the biggest legalised crooks in the world” – and I thought it was that bunch in Brussels that had that title.
Nothing surprises me anymore. The whole of society aspire to corruption like it was the holy grail.
Those that live in Monaco are role models. They all do so to evade UK Tax. If it were to avoid UK Tax, they should surrender their British nationality.
The idea of actually doing any real journalism, let alone ‘investigative Journalism’ seems to of passed them by completely.”
I don’t see any evidence that even suggests that any of these footy hacks ever had any such intention. Hillsborough.
The spoof character Alan Partdrige made his debut on our screens as footy plundit in the early nineties. As he found more fame he left the game behind in order to gyrate and lap dance in his leather undies. Truth is indeed stranger then fiction as far as Aunty Bleeb is concerned. Genius satire.
I’m looking forward to the article in the Plebian Times by Rah Rah Smith telling us plebs that any curiosity about the Rico enterprises attitude towards the doping of their cattle (players) or the reaction of the Rico enterprises to AFC this season represent a dangerous and misplaced fixation that can easily be allayed with some relaxing chemicals and lots of booze. You didn’t hear it hear first.
Unfortunately for Andrew Jennings the fear must be that his work has been co-opted for political purposes. However he deserved the recognition for his effort skill and endeavour. Funny how so many of these hacks and broadcasters spent twenty years ignoring him.
There is an excellent documentary entitled ¨requiem for the American Dream¨which focuses on Noam Chomsky’s conviction that we no longer live in a democratic,socially conscious, caring society but rather in a 1% rich oligarchy where people have become simple ¨assets¨ or consumables, to be used as the rich see fit.
We see this in the way WADA is being subtly and persistently de-fanged by the Corruptables at FIFA and EUFA. They create (like the 1%)their own ¨reality¨ that doesn’t correspond to anything actually existing, but rather to their vision of the world. This is, as Chomsky says, the first of 10 nefarious steps in ensuring that they get what they want and that the public get screwed.
We can expect even more outrageous revelations including the current investigation into FUFA’s incredibly machievellian money grab by Blatter and company. Here is the link on the FUFA website: http://www.fifa.com/governance/news/y=2016/m=6/news=attorneys-for-fifa-provide-update-on-internal-investigation-and-detail-2799851.html
Famous persons as football critics –
“He has all the virtues I dislike, and none of the vices I admire.”
– Winston Churchill
“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.”
– Moses Hadas
“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”
– Oscar Wilde
“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope, it’s nothing trivial.”
– Irvin S. Cobb
“He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.”
– Samuel Johnson
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”
– Oscar Wilde
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts .. . . for support rather than illumination.”
– Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
@ omgarsenal – Wow, i can’t believe that i can come to place where not only does every share the same positive views about our great club and manager, but also about social-econmic problems and race issues. It’s truly a refreshing change from most other corners of the internet and it’s funny how there is a correlation between actually supporting the club and being able to see the big issues in the world, that few people like to speak out about.
Currently watching a documentary called – “everything is a rich mans trick”, sounds like it covers much of the same of the one you mentioned.
omgarsenal
Very interesting.
“They create (like the 1%)their own ¨reality¨ that doesn’t correspond to anything actually existing, but rather to their vision of the world.”
That IS the media summed up in one sentence.
Giruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud
Love it.
Unfortunately, that 1% are so powerful that they are practically above any legal action. People are far too worried that by putting them on trail (and hopefully prosecuting them) would have a hugely negative effect on the economy, as that is what they have complete control over. The moment the federal reserve came into play, is the one of the moments that granted these people absolute control. The two presidents that actually tried to make amends to this, by getting cash from the treasury (meaning no added interest) and coincidentally, these two presidents just so happened to be the ones shot in public. You never hear of these shenanigans in mainstream media, but something like 90% of the worlds media, is owned by the same 6 corporations; all with similar agendas to push. I wouldn’t mind it, if it wasn’t used so blatantly to tell the public what and what not to think (which of course they lap up).
Anyway i digress, back to football! That Merson sure has the mental capacity of a in-grown toenail!
Jammy J
I think you’re being a bit harsh on in-growing toenails there my friend.
I’ve had a couple myself, and can say from personal experience that they possess and inelegance far beyond that of the aforementioned ex drug addict, compulsive gambler, and failed manager.
My Toenails avoided any such temptations. Although it must be said they did seem to possess an uncontrollable urge to machete there way in to my flash.
But even that was infinitely preferable to listening to that numbnut.
To say our Journalists are a bunch of hypocritical ignoramuses is to state the bleeding obvious, but I always love it when one of our ‘award winning’ plundits reinforce that notion.
This from Oliver ‘Wenger bashing’ Holt, this morning in the Mail on Sunday.
Taking a swipe at Nike and Sharapova he says:
“One moment, Nike release an absurdly pretentious advert called ‘The Switch’ that tries, essentially, to put across the notion that Cristiano Ronaldo has got where he is by being a hard worker.
The next moment, Nike say they are continuing to endorse Maria Sharapova, who has just been banned from Tennis for 2 years for trying to cheat the system by taking a performance-enhancing drug.
Talk about mixed messages. Talk about wanting to have it both ways. Sharapova might have a good public relations machine around her and she might be good at charming an audience and selling a few sneakers but she cheated and was caught.
If Nike really wanted to claw back any shred of the credibility they shredded when they resumed there backing for serial drugs cheat Justin Gatlin, they would drop Sharapova like a stone”
All very noble. ‘Moral Outrage’ at it’s best. An example to us all.
What a shame then, that Holt singularly fails to turn this admirable ‘Moral Outrage’ on the subjects that really matter. For example.
-Where’s Holts ‘moral outrage’ at Sakho for being a drugs cheat?
-Where’s Holts moral outrage when it comes to UEFA’s policy to unilaterally ignore WADA’s banned drugs list by picking and choosing for themselves which Drugs are, and which drugs are not, banned?
(I mean how different it would be for Sharapova if she played football and not tennis, because taking the lead from UEFA, all her people had to say was “we don’t think that ******* should be on the banned list” and bobs your uncle, she’s innocent.)
Will we get the same ‘moral outrage’ from Holt with Liverpool, should they ‘Stand by’ Sakho next season.
-All the corruption at FIFA with there self policing. Not a word.
-UEFA creating there own rules on drugs. Not a word.
-PGMOL and it’s dubious Modus Operandi, with every move veiled in secrecy. Not a word.
-The total ineptitude, and open bias of our referees. Not a word.
-Fergie with a phone book full of referees numbers. Not a word.
I cant wait for Holts ‘Moral’ judgement of the odious one.
Let’s see if the odious ones litany of misdemeanours crosses Holts Moral boundaries, or will he continue to live with his head stuck up his ignoble behind?
Similarly will he castigate United for not ‘dropping’ him like a stone’?
Did Holt get ‘Morally outraged’ When Keane tried to break a fellow professionals leg?
FFS Holt, stop your obsession with Wenger.
Stop picking and choosing what does and doesn’t offend you just because it suits.
In the great scheme of things what Sharapova did, although wrong, was nothing compared to the issues with FIFA, UEFA, POGMOL, The FA, and whole list of other ills that infest football, yet it is Sharapova and Nike you find the time to lambast whist completely ignoring that little lot.
Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe you.