A third of the British sportsmen and women currently banned for doping are from Wales, including 17 club rugby players from both codes, prompting fears the problem is widespread throughout the country.
While the Russian doping scandal has commanded the greater attention, it is becoming increasingly clear the problem is not limited to athletics; on Monday Arsène Wenger accused European football’s governing body Uefa of ‘accepting doping’ while an investigation in Wales by BBC Wales’ Week In Week Out, which will be aired on Tuesday, highlights the extent of the issue in rugby.
At present, seven of the 14 British rugby league players banned for doping are Welsh while the figure is 10 out of 16 for rugby union. Chris Thair, the chief operating officer of Wales Rugby League, believes an increasing emphasis on players’ size and attempting to emulate the physiques of professional players are a contributing factors.
“They think that’s attainable within 12 months when it’s actually not,” he told the programme. “It’s not just a rugby issue, it’s a huge global issue for all sports, and it’s a challenge for everybody and we’ve got to do more.”
Martyn Phillips, the chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union expressed similar concerns: “I wouldn’t sit here and say it’s not an issue in rugby because one player getting banned is one too many as far as I’m concerned.
“So the challenge for us, not just in rugby but in sport generally, is we’ve got to try to get it out of the game. I don’t think that’s going to be easy.”
During the programme a now retired, former semi-professional, who remains anonymous recounts his experience of taking performance-enhancing substances. “[Drugs made a massive difference to me as a rugby player. I was fitter, faster and stronger in a very short period of time,” he said. “There’s more and more pressure to become bigger and stronger and faster. Now the physical qualities are becoming more important at times than skills.”
