Doping has reached the golf sport. In 2009, Doug Barron has been tested positive on a performance-enhancing drug. Through technology, doping gets more and more advanced and more difficult to find in the blood of the players. Also the possibilities of how the drugs can help a golf player to perform better are getting more. the following article is about the first golfer, who was caught on drugs and in the following was suspended for one year.
Doug Barron has become the first golfer to be banned for taking a performance-enhancing drug.
The American, who has only played one PGA Tour event this year, has been suspended for one year after testing positive for an unnamed substance.
Drug testing on the PGA and European Tours only began in July 2008.
"I would like to apologise for any negative perception of the Tour or its players resulting from my suspension," said Barron....(to read more, click on the link)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/8339267.stm
Unfortunately we have to realize that wherever there is a chance for big gains, people will try and cheat their way to the top.. As the PGA only adapted to WADA protocol as late as 2008, it is not a surprise that there has only been very few incidents of doping in the world of Golf, but this does not mean that the PGA tour have been clean, far from it, I will argue opposite. the fact that it has taken the PGA such a long time to adapt has only facilitated the possibility for golfers to cheat to a much greater extent . Testing should occur after every tournament on as many golfers as possible, and the penalty for cheating should be a lifetime ban from the PGA tour. I mean this should be protocol for every sport, in order to protect not just the image of the sports and its stakeholders, but also protect the future stars (the kids) in order for them to look up to someone who truly inspires and not just some cheap-cake cheater like Doug Barron !!
ReplyDeletehahahahahahah... nicely said jensito, but i believe that lifetime ban is a bit too much. 1 year definitely is not enough after such an argument which you have presented to us, but wouldnt lifetime ban be a bit unfair to the players? what about their chance to recover from their addiction/doping? maybe 2, 3 years from the major events in golf.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying that lifetime ban is too extreme, but this gives cheaters a second chance ! This might make the risk of cheating small enough for anyone to try doping knowing very well that 1. not everyone gets busted, and 2. it gives the opportunity for them to come back and still compete after some time. I believe this is not the message that young athletes should receive, they should not see previous cheaters compete for glory, (OK, so its alright to cheat once ?) they should only see athletes who are clean from drugs and just awesome in what they do..
ReplyDeleteYeah, it gives cheaters second chance true. But to the cost of someones professional career. I understand that is his fault in the first place, still, people may learn from the mistakes and change (specially if the passion for the sport/work is greater than the drug/performance).
ReplyDeleteIn this case I would suggest an approach which is supposedly used in professional tennis. The first time a player tests positive he or she gets a silent but fierce warning. Silent in the sense that they don't make it public, for the sport's image sake, and fierce in the sense that a second occurrence results in a ban (don't remember the length though).
ReplyDeleteI think this is a fair offer because, even though it's cheating, we have to admit that people are people and people make mistakes, especially is tempted by those fancy cups or cheques. But I do agree that in many sports it has to be enforced much more strictly so that kids develop a very negative view on doping and consequently hopefully never get tempted themselves when they start playing more competitively.
On the side, I was just thinking how trainers can be discouraged to recommend drugs to their athletes. Because, everybody knows, a lot of times it's the trainers who push the athletes to use it...
From Luis: What Kristian said is very interesting, because most of the time the trainers influence in a negative way by pushing the players or athletes to use drugs in order to maximize his or her performance. Even so, this is not a excuse to use these illegal substances. As a result of the bad use of technology everyday is more common to observe how the official organizations establish several rules in order to prevent this kind of cheats.
ReplyDeleteAs we were talking earlier in class... "Joga Bonito" one of the main values that were being promoted by this marketing campaign was HONOR. Even though the campaign was created for football it could perfectly applied in any sport. Is up to the player to decide to play it's game withy style, honor. At the end, he is always the one choosing.
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