Doping in GAA - Jim Gavin not happy with post match drug testing

downthemiddle

Jayop wrote: »

When he said they should have been able to watch the show (his main complaint) she agreed. She then fudged something about miscommunication or a message not getting back to through. The core point was the same and it was one you and others called Gavin ignorant for making.

What part of Una May saying the players were allowed to watch the show do you fail to understand? That is not a fudge, it is a clear statement. If you were familiar with the testing procedures you would know that as long as the athletes remain under the supervision of the testers within the arena there is no difficulty. They have free access to talk and mix with their teammates, family and team officials as well as eat and drink. They are not locked away in a confined space until they pee into a bottle.
The testers follow the same procedures EVERY single time and last Sunday was no different. Jim Gavin is the person muddying the waters on this issue and nobody else. Una May's statements on the matter are clear.

STB.

Chivito550 wrote: »

Irish athletics has had to endure far more rigorous testing down the years than GAA. Blood testing, biological passport etc. Irish athletics has had just 5 people test positive in that time:

Cathal Lombard
Geraldine Hendricken
Martin Fagan
Lithuanian Irish based shot putter (Tomas Rauktys)
Steven Colvert

If the GAA had the same levels of rigour in its testing (Rob Heffernan gets tested around 15 times per year out of competition, randomly gets woken up at 6am for a test) then I am certain there would be more than 2.

Your graph above shows how much more out of competition and blood testing there is in Irish athletics than in GAA. Yeh the in competition is less but that's because our top athletes race overseas mainly and so get tested over there. When competing at home, they get tested.

I don't believe doping is endemic in GAA, but it also isn't endemic in Irish athletics.

Athletics should have to endure a rigorous testing regime. Its an internationally practiced and competitively fought sport. Drug cheating in this sport is a huge problem. Athletics Ireland is affiliated to the European Athletic Association (EAA), is a Member Federation for Ireland of the International Association of Athletics Federations(IAFF), the the world governing body for the sport. It is the recognised as the National Governing Body, is a member of the OCI, and must abide by rules set down, especially the IAFF rules including requirements for WADA.

The GAA has no such affiliations AND it is not a sport that is in a competitive arena outside this country UNLIKE athletics (a high risk sport), and so does not require any such similar level of dope testing, but in practice does. The money being spent here is wasteful.

Furthermore, your thread title was deliberately misleading. You knew what you were doing.

Don't try and compare athletics as a sport with GAA especially when it comes down to dope testing. Athletics has a problem with doping, GAA does not for the most obvious reasons stated throughout this thread.

Mark English did an interview on this some time back and thought that it was farcical, and he is a former GAA man.

Chivito550

STB. wrote: »

Athletics should have to endure a rigorous testing regime. Its an internationally practiced and competitively fought sport. Drug cheating in this sport is a huge problem. Athletics Ireland is affiliated to the European Athletic Association (EAA), is a Member Federation for Ireland of the International Association of Athletics Federations(IAFF), the the world governing body for the sport. It is the recognised as the National Governing Body, is a member of the OCI, and must abide by rules set down, especially the IAFF rules including requirements for WADA.

The GAA has no such affiliations AND it is not a sport that is in a competitive arena outside this country UNLIKE athletics (a high risk sport), and so does not require any such similar level of dope testing, but in practice does. The money being spent here is wasteful.

Furthermore, your thread title was deliberately misleading. You knew what you were doing.

Don't try and compare athletics as a sport with GAA especially when it comes down to dope testing. Athletics has a problem with doping, GAA does not for the most obvious reasons stated throughout this thread.

Mark English did an interview on this some time back and thought that it was farcical, and he is a former GAA man.

I agree athletics is a high risk sport on a global level, but ignorant people on this thread are suggesting that doping in rife in Irish athletics. This is far from the truth. The reality is that there is a strong anti-doping culture in Irish athletics. That’s not to suggest there isn’t the odd bad apple of course. But when people seem to suggest that our athletes (also amateurs for the most part) are all doped up, this is a real slur on the sport in this country, and is an opinion based on nothing but ignorance.

I actually believe on a global level that doping is rife in most sports. Cycling and athletics get the brunt of it because their governing bodies (while far from perfect) at least try to implement rigourous anti-doping procedures, unlike tennis, rugby, soccer, NFL etc. If anti-doping procedures were even across the board, those sports would be as bad on a global level, if not worse.

On the topic of GAA, again, like Irish athletics, I do not think doping is endemic. But if they are receiving ISC funding (funding which could go to other sports more in need of the funding) then they must follow the requirements for this funding. Drug testing is not just there to catch cheats, but to act as a deterrent to those thinking of cheating. It’s there to protect the integrity of the sport, and to ensure fair play. The fact that it is not international should not matter. AFL in Australia is not international, and a massive doping scandal with Essendon has surfaced in recent years. The fact it is not professional (though it’s only really amateur in name) should not matter too. There are monetary rewards at stake through sponsorship and endorsements, not to mention the fact that most who compete in Olympic sports are amateur too.

This is not some sort of anti-GAA agenda. I’m disappointed that some on this forum show such immaturity that instead of debate a topic, they must take personal jibes against posters, and against other sports they know nothing about.

Just because I don’t post on this forum doesn’t mean I’m anti-GAA. I don’t post very often on any forums other than athletics, yet I love sport in general. In fact, when abroad travelling and meeting people from other countries, one of the first things I’d talk about, when asked about Ireland, is this awesome game we have called hurling.

So carry on folks, keep taking your pot shots, if it makes you feel better. Toys out of the pram and all that.

hardCopy

Bonniedog wrote: »

Length of time steroids used by physical team players stay in system:

Deca-durabolin 17 to 18 months, Equipoise 4 to 5 months, Trenbolone acetate 4 to 5 months, Testosterone cytopinate, enthanate, sustanon 3 months, Anadrol 2 months, Winstrol (injectable) 2 months, Proviron 5-6 weeks, Dianabol 5-6 weeks, Parabolan 4-5 weeks, Primobolan 4-5 weeks, Anavar 3 weeks, Winstrol (oral) 3 weeks, Testosterone Propinate 3 weeks, Andriol 1 week, Clenbuteral 4-5 days, Testosterone suspension 1-3 days.


At the more serious end of actual match day use of 'greenie' type, the detection period is between one and four days.

Don't forget EPO, massive potential benefits for a game with so much running, and can be microdosed and passed quickly.

rebel girl 15

Can't play nice by the looks of it, so I'm locking it until one of us can get to it and give out some cards - you were warned