|
|
 |
You are > Home > Aidan has been unfairly hung out to dry
|
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Aidan has been unfairly hung out to dry
WHEN it comes to the politics of sport, there is no such thing as a free meal. Back in 2001 the Government gave the GAA ¤75 million for the redevelopment of Croke Park. In return, one of the conditions was that the GAA would subscribe to the Irish Sports Council’s anti-doping code.
At the time I had reservations about this because I felt that the Sports Council were treating amateur sportsmen that same way that they were treating professionals, when it came to the doping question. This wasn’t fair.
I have always believed that there is no problem within the GAA with regards to the taking of performance enhancing drugs and nothing that has happened subsequently has changed my mind.
I was worried about what would happen to a player who, through no fault of his own, had taken a substance that was on the outlawed list or what would happen if one of these substances was included in medically prescribed medication.
At the time, we were told that the players would get an opportunity to fully inform the Sports Council, through the Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) as to their medical conditions and what medication they were on. Players were informed that this information would be taken into consideration when evaluating the result.
Last week, Kerry football star, Aidan O’Mahony, was informed that traces of Salbutamol were found in a test that was carried out after September’s loss to Tyrone in the All-Ireland final. The media were also informed of these facts, even though Aidan had, earlier on in the year, informed the Sports Council that he suffers from asthma.
As everyone knows, asthma is commonly treated with inhalers that contain Salbutamol. Therefore it was inevitable that traces of the substance would be found in the sample that the Rathmore man provided to the testers. What annoys most people associated with the GAA is why were the results released to the media without, first of all, allowing Aidan the chance to prove his innocence or otherwise?
By releasing the results, they were automatically damaging his reputation as a sportsman. Did they not consider for one moment the trauma that it would cause the players himself or Aidan’s immediate family? For an amateur sports man, it also has the potential to damage a person’s career, or in Aidan’s situation as a member of An Garda Síochana.
There was also the added fact that Aidan suffered from a flu on the days in the lead-up to the All-Ireland final. Together with the fact that the weather conditions were warm and that the game was tight and intense, it would all have contributed to the a degree of dehydration. It is an accepted scientific fact that dehydration has the potential to distort the results of a sample.
Salbutamol is a stimulant and used to dilute the bronchi in the airwaves. However, if it is used in high doses, it does have an anabolic effect. If there is a presence over a certain level in the urine sample, then it’s considered that it’s being used for an anabolic effect and not for bronchi-dilatory effects. I believe that performance-enhancing drugs would not benefit a gaelic footballer in a positive way.
Steroids build bulk in the muscle, which is not what most gaelic footballers needs. That kind of bulk could proved to be a liability. Neither is gaelic football a long endurance sport because it has many rest periods built into the inherent nature of the game.
Also, performance-enhancing drugs would not improve a player’s skill factor. Basically, there are no clear-cut benefits for a footballer to take performance-enhancing substances. I believe that it is not an issue within gaelic football and I believe that it will be proven that Aidan O’Mahony used Salbutamol strictly for medical purposes.
One of the most disappointing aspects in this saga is the way that a gaelic footballer was hung out to dry in the media.
The powers-that-be must have known that he has a strong case, in view of the fact that he has suffered from asthma all his life. Failure to give a player an opportunity to prove his innocence or otherwise before releasing the initial results to the media doesn’t show much regard for the players that make the sport what it is.
Surely a sports person should have this right. Let’s hope that the GPA take us this issue with the Irish Sports Council, and hopefully that will mean that players will be restored with the respect and dignity which, after all, should be a basic right.
And, in the future, players will be innocent until proven guilty.
Main News Page |
Previous Page
|
|
|
|
