When a athlete the magnitude of Gary Player says to pay attention to an issue, we should pay attention. During the British open Player expressed his concern about the use of PEDs in golf, which initially seems a bit wacky. Today, however, Italian authorities suspended an Italian pro golfer for a positive dope test. From the International Tribune:
Italian golfer Alessandro Pissilli has been suspended after failing a drug test, the Italian Olympic Committee said Wednesday.
Pissilli, who plays on the Italian pro tour, tested positive for the banned diuretic Finasteride at the Omnium National Championship on June 29.
Pissilli has been suspended by the Italian Golf Federation and could face a two-year ban if found guilty of a doping violation.
Golf has come under increased pressure from the World Anti-Doping Agency to introduce random drug testing after South African veteran Gary Player claimed at the British Open last month that some golfers were taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Finasteride is used to treat hair loss but can also mask steroid use, and has been at the center of several recent doping cases.
Pissilli, who plays on the Italian pro tour, tested positive for finasteride during the Omnium National Championship near Turin on June 29 after a test was requested by the Italian Golf Federation.
It could be that the golfer simply was treating hair loss; or he might have been using the drug as a masking agent.
The Jamaica Gleaner discusses the possibility of steroids in golf:
Of course there is always a serious and jocular side to the things I write. The comical side of it just went. Seriously, if Player's allegations are true, then one of the sports which I have come to appreciate over the years is just as tainted. It would mean that one of the world's oldest sports has become marred by some of the world's newest ways to cheat.
The stakes in professional sports, regardless of what that sport is, have become incredibly high. Endorsement deals, broadcast rights and of course the gamblers, all mean that the impetus to win has increased tenfold. Now when an athlete says he/she has to win, it might be because he/she really has to maybe to pay off some bad debts with even worse people. So they do all they can, legally or otherwise, to give themselves a better chance than every other competitor. Somehow, when I heard the allegations on drugs in golf, I think that's when I truly felt that the purity in sports was indeed gone.
Sports iaafrica.com adds this:
There are a lot of people on their soapboxes at the moment spouting off about ‘clean’ sport, slamming cyclists that dope and calling for an end to the Tour de France. But if Le Tour is cut from the global calendar we are destined to see the end of most big sporting events because if you are looking for ‘clean’ sport, you are going to be in for one hell of a search.
Cynicism reigns these days, doesn't it?
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