Doped up? European football’s dirty secret

Last week, we showed that the Champions League was the most popular sport in the world.

With so many eyes on the competition, how can it keep such a big secret?

The claim 

On the Stick to Football podcast, Gary Neville and Roy Keane accused some opponents they faced in the Champions League of doping. They especially think it was the Italian teams that weren’t clean. 

“We played certain teams, I would be walking off and would be absolutely shattered. I would be looking at the players I played against, a couple of Italian teams, and they looked like they’ve not even played a match,” Keane said. 

Is there any truth to this?

Unfortunately, yes. While it might seem like the Manchester United legends are just bitter that they lost out on a few trophies, there is a history of European clubs failing doping tests…

• Between 2001 and 2002, Pep Guardiola among others tested positive for a banned substance, Nandrolone. The Spaniard blamed Dr. Ramon Segura - stating that he only ever took what the doctor made for him. 

• Arsene Wenger famously believed that cheating was widespread in football for decades and demanded in-competition blood testing. 

• In 2004, Juventus’ doctor Riccardo Agricola was jailed for providing a performance-enhancing drug. The banned drug was EPO which ultimately increases oxygen transport and endurance. 

The worst part? Juventus rehired Dr Agricola in 2017… 

The problem is that… 

… doping isn’t seen as a problem in football because a drug “doesn’t help you pass better.” While that might be true, the game is becoming more physical - where doping will come in handy of course.

Even in the Premier League, doping hasn’t been taken seriously. A report last year found that The FA and UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) have a “lax testing programme”, with doping tests declining since 2017. 

A damning picture of the beautiful game.