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Articles on Drugs in sport

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Myths surround the use of polygraph machines. Lie detector photo from Shutterstock.

Lie detectors and anti-doping – who’s kidding who?

Please, sit down. Try not to sweat. Just relax. Now, answer honestly: could lie detectors succeed where current anti-doping measures in sport are failing? If you answered “yes” you are not alone. There…
Recent controversies in sport won’t keep the fans away. Julie Edgley/Flickr

Drugs in sport? Why our memory of scandal fades so readily

Despite the recent controversy arising from the ACC report into organised crime and drugs in sport, it is unlikely that substantial numbers of fans will stop supporting their sport. In fact, we are surprisingly…
Unnamed players from the Cronulla Sharks NRL club are being investigated over the alleged use of performance-enhancing drug TB-4 … but what is it? AAP Image

Cronulla Sharks and thymosin beta-4 … is it doping?

Fairfax Media reported today that 14 players from the Cronulla Sharks NRL club may be suspended by the Australian Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) for the alleged use of a substance called thymosin beta-4 (TB-4…
NRL CEO David Smith at this week’s season launch. The NRL now faces a challenge to its credibility with an ASADA investigation into performance enhancing drug use. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

NRL: more than Sharks in the water at Cronulla?

When millimetres can be the difference between glory and anonymity, how far will some athletes go to get an edge? For some, it seems, not even their soul is too high a price. In a day sports authorities…
Members of the Olympic men’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay team James McEvoy, James Magnussen and Eamon Sullivan at a news conference in Sydney yesterday. AAP/Mick Tsikas

Treatment, enhancement or recreation – why sports and Stilnox are a bad mix

It was a bonding session that involved prank phone calls, knocking on doors late at night and other acts of “harmless fun”. The men’s 4x100m Olympic freestyle relay team made it sound like they were boys…
Public interest can suffer when sports journalists look the wrong way. Natursports/Shutterstock.com

On scandal after scandal, sports journalists drop the ball

The year so far has been terrible for the reputation of sport. Lance Armstrong confessed (sort of) to Oprah; Europol discovered widespread match-fixing in European football; the Australian Crime Commission…
Is our current form of hyper-competitive sport transgressive of fair play? Art-Of-2

We’re getting tougher on doping cheats – but why?

What’s the point of anti-doping? And what’s the point of sport in the early 21st century? Is the current system of anti-doping good for our kids, our athletes and is it good for sport? Is it even good…
According to Plato, corruption is the ‘perfect injustice’ appearing to be good and just when you are not. Flickr/Erlend Aasland

The ‘perfect injustice’: is Australia more corrupt than we think?

Corruption is pervasive, diverse and present in almost all areas of society. From the “greed is good” heyday of the 1980s that encompassed the rise and fall of corporate high-flyers such as Christopher…
Part of Team GB’s success at the 2012 Olympics can be attributed to rigorous sports science. Sum_of_Marc/Flickr

Sports science: time for proper accreditation

Stephen Dank, the man at the centre of Essendon drug scandal has been widely quoted in the media as a sport scientist or performance scientist. He has a PhD but is not accredited with Exercise Sport Science…
In light of the Australian Crime Commission report into doping, we need to look at how sport scientists are taught. Drugs in sport image from www.shutterstock.com

Doping shock: pointing the finger at sports scientists

The report recently released by the Australian Crime Commission sent shock waves through the sporting world, implicating sport scientists and other support personnel in unethical doping practices. The…
Since claims of systematic doping in Australian sport emerged last week, the role of sports scientists has been called into question. marc falardeau

Tarred with the same brush: what do sports scientists do?

Sports scientists have taken something of a media beating over the past week following revelations of alleged widespread illegal doping across Australian professional sporting codes. While this may be…
In sports-loving Australia, damaging its integrity ultimately undermines supporter confidence and enjoyment. AAP/Rob Cox

Doping, gambling and sport: integrity begins at home

The Australian Crime Commission’s report on organised crime and drugs in sport has unleashed a storm amongst sports fans, particularly those who follow the clubs or codes so far implicated. Use of new…
In light of relevations into doping in Australian sport, should more be done to protect and inform professional athletes? Phil Roeder

We need an advocate against ASADA’s power in doping control

Should an athlete advocacy organisation be established to help athletes navigate the minefield of banned and permitted substances in sport? We believe it should be. Last week’s report by the Australian…
Sports journalists don’t always have the resources to break major crime stories. AAP/Joe Castro

Don’t blame sports journalists for missing corruption scandal

The cheating scandal that has ostensibly bewildered those in command of Australia’s elite sports could end up being the biggest story involving sport in history. Yet sport journalists, like the officials…
Coach of Essendon James Hird talks with assistant coach Mark Thompson in 2011. AAP/Martin Philbey

Essendon scandal a symptom of Australia’s sporting woes

The Australian Crime Commission report released last week, Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport, claims Australian sport, especially at the professional level, has a serious drug use problem. According to…
Doctors and sports scientists have to negotiate the goals of their employers with the expectations of their profession. Quinn Dombrowski

Embedded sports scientists and doctors walk an ethical tightrope

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) findings about the actions of “specific coaches, sports scientists and high-performance staff” in condoning or orchestrating the administration of prohibited substances…
Sports Minister Kate Lundy at the release of the ACC report into organised crime and sport in Australia. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Drugs in the sporting workplace

Sport administrators, employers, policy makers, sponsors, parents and sport fans are understandably scratching their heads right now, as to the facts underpinning claims of corruption and crime in Australian…
AAP/The Australian Customs Service

Not fun and games: organised crime and sport

The findings of the Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) report Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport have come as a shock to many and become an enormous media story. Should we be surprised? Are these just…
Australian sport was supposed to be clean. What went wrong? AAP/Lukas Coch

Drugs, crime and ball games: how Aussie sport got crooked

The Australian Crime Commission report, Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport, has come as a hammer blow to Australian sport. According to a review of cycling released only last month, Australia is supposed…
An ASADA investigation has been launched into the alleged use of supplements by Essendon players last year. AAP/Ben Macmahon

Essendon faces a doping investigation … but what are peptides?

By now you’ll have heard the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) is investigating Essendon Football Club. At this stage, there has been speculation about the injection of “peptides” by players…

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