Sports Doping, a Never-Ending Story? addresses the fact that today’s sports are no longer “just sports.” Sports have evolved into an industry, a business replete with politics, sponsors, contracts, and money. Along with the glory and publicity that come with winning, the rest of these factors have become compelling enough for some athletes to jeopardize their long-term career, health, and reputation. Players are now tested in a sports medicine clinic before playing, and the results of some tests are disheartening.
The fight to prevent doping continues, but the existence of rules and codes, as well as anti-doping procedures and biological passports, has made the process of doping more difficult to achieve. The majority of illegal substances can be detected through thorough testing in a sports medicine clinic, but “anti-doping agencies will always be one step behind manufacturers of new undetectable substances with pharmacological properties similar to those already available on the market”.There is a lot of debate about the fact that most professional athletes who are caught doping face minor consequences, despite the fact that getting caught is a felony across the country.
According to a Google poll, 92 percent of participants believe athletes who use steroids are cheating, and another 72 percent believe professional athletes are let off the hook too easily when caught. This is proof that something needs to change in the sports world, and it needs to change quickly.I don’t believe companies should jeopardize a consumer’s health in order to make a quick buck; I believe all human beings, regardless of status, should be held accountable for their actions; and I don’t believe young athletes or their parents should be okay with their high school coaches encouraging them to take dietary supplements when they themselves are unaware of the dangers these illegal ingredients pose.
New and innovative measures should be implemented at the municipal level to address the issues caused by lax regulations and easy access to potentially dangerous weight-loss and muscle-building supplements. To help spread awareness on the subject, doctors from sports medicine clinics should be invited to formally educate all stakeholders on steroids and dietary supplements at some point in their lives. Athletes, like any other citizen, should be held accountable for their actions and serve their prison sentences if they commit crimes.If stricter regulations, testing, and harsher penalties are required to prevent future doping scenarios and protect the overall well-being of all athletes, so be it.
