Donati says link exists between doping and coke use

[GruB]

Donati says link exists between doping and coke use

By Shane Stokes on www.cyclingnews.com - the first WWW cycling results and
  news service

Italian anti-doping expert Sandro Donati has challenged the notion that there is no direct correlation between recreational cocaine use and the abuse of performance enhancing drugs, saying this week that the two are often linked.

Under the WADA Code, an athlete cannot be punished for testing positive for the substance in out of competition tests. However, Donati indicated at the Play The Game conference in Coventry that he is sceptical about separating the two.

"I don't understand when, every time an athlete is positive for cocaine, that the sporting institutions immediately explain that it is not for performance, it is only for personal use," he said.

"This is an incredible explanation. I was a coach and I know very well the mental balance of the athlete. It is impossible for someone who uses cocaine for his personal life to have a good balance...because the role of the athlete is very complex.

"It means that someone involved in the use of cocaine is not a normal athlete. It means that the using is only a compensation for other using [of drugs]...the cocaine is only the tip of the iceberg."

As justification for his stance, Donati referred to his work as a consultant for a prosecutor in doping cases. "I know very well the connection in using [of both types]," he said, explaining that the substance is used by some in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

It is utilised "mainly to compensate for the slump in mood and aggressiveness during the suspension of anabolic steroids or testosterone," he explained. "There is the consequence of becoming addicted to both categories of substances."

Former Tour de France winner Marco Pantani died of a cocaine overdose in 2004. There have been several high-profile cases of cyclists testing positive for the drug.

While Donati did not name any particular athletes - and therefore didn't make specific accusations of doping against any one individual - it is clear that he would vouch for a rethink of the WADA Code in this area.

He is a former Head of Research for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and now works as Consultant of the Minister of Social Affairs in Italy.

[Hot Flatus]

....or it could be that just like a fairly hefty chunk of UK twenty somethings, Boonen likes a little toot of a Saturday night.

[Adrian]

He may well be right, he should after all know a bit about it, but the substance of what he is saying here is barely a step up from "there's no smoke without fire". This is a shame because the subject deserves to be addressed properly

[ChrisO]

True, but for most of the last 30 years the dopers have relied on the defence of "nothing has been proved" when people have been saying there was no smoke without fire.

And when they did catch someone it was "an isolated incident" not a pattern of behaviour.

They've been caught lying so many times that I think in a collective sense they have to accept that the burden of proof has shifted to being a presumption of guilt.

An office worker might be able to go out on Saturday night, get slaughtered and have a few lines, but they aren't going to enter Paris-Roubaix, let alone win it. At the level of athletic discipline and intensity necessary to perform as an elite road cyclist I seriously doubt that's the real explanation for Boonen.

[Adrian]

Agreed but there really ought to be more substance to the claim. There probably is but it has just not been explained yet.

[Julian]

An office worker might be able to go out on Saturday night, get slaughtered and have a few lines, but they aren't going to enter Paris-Roubaix, let alone win it. At the level of athletic discipline and intensity necessary to perform as an elite road cyclist I seriously doubt that's the real explanation for Boonen.

I'm led to believe that a certain amount of intensity and athletic discipline are required for the playing of foopball, but plenty of footballers manage to be caught on the Bolivian marching powder without any suspicion that they're doping for matches.

Is it just because pro-cycling has suffered so much from doping scandals that it tends to be assumed that recreational drug use = doping?

[ChrisO]

An office worker might be able to go out on Saturday night, get slaughtered and have a few lines, but they aren't going to enter Paris-Roubaix, let alone win it. At the level of athletic discipline and intensity necessary to perform as an elite road cyclist I seriously doubt that's the real explanation for Boonen.

I'm led to believe that a certain amount of intensity and athletic discipline are required for the playing of foopball, but plenty of footballers manage to be caught on the Bolivian marching powder without any suspicion that they're doping for matches.

Is it just because pro-cycling has suffered so much from doping scandals that it tends to be assumed that recreational drug use = doping?

Well yes, I did say that the fact they had been caught lying so often meant there was a presumption of guilt.

One could say the same thing about football compared to an office worker. There is after all a suspicion that doping is present in a number of high-profile sports other than cycling and several very famous names from football and tennis were supposed to be among the Operation Puerto lists.

But footballers have always had a culture of heavy drinking in a way that would not be physically sustainable by a pro-cyclist. There are no cycling equivalents to match the George Bests, Stan Bowles and Tony Adams of football which suggests that it is more than simply coincidence.

I don't see it as a valid comparison. The athletic requirements are very different. Nothing in football compares to the effort needed for a one-day classic, let alone a stage race over three weeks.

[Hot Flatus]

Rugby is stuffed to the gills with drugs.  Dallaglio liked a line or two and stories abound of him pre-match in the changing rooms frothing at the mouth.

[Julian]

All they need is a torch...