COSTA RICA COMPLAINS TO FIFA For Anti-Doping Tests
Costa Rica have vented their frustration at being asked to submit a large number of players for drugs testing, following their win over Italy.
Costa Rica were seen as the underdogs in Group D, alongside Italy, Uruguay and England, but have managed to win their first two games winning one of the hardest groups in the World Cup.
After winning against group favourites and World Cup 2006 Champions Italy, Costa Rica were asked to submit seven players for anti-doping tests by FIFA, as opposed to Italy’s two.
Normally two players are tested after each match, but FIFA claimed an extra five were needed, as they were unable to test them prior to the competition starting.
The Football federation of Costa Rica has sent a letter to FIFA, the world governing body of football, and demanded an explanation as to why so many of its players were asked to submit to anti-doping controls after a surprise victory over Italy.
After Friday’s 1-0 win, seven Costa Rica players were tested that angered team officials who remarked it may lead people to believe that the world governing body of football suspects Costa Ricans of doping. Adrian Gutierrez, the president of Costa Rica’s selection committee, remarked we believe in, accept and trust doping controls that FIFA carries out, but we want an explanation as to why so many of the players were called in and added what causes surprise at the world level is that they take seven players in one sitting for anti-doping tests, which gives an image of suspicion that Costa Rican players are doping.
The Costa Rica federation said FIFA remarked eight players were not available for testing before the World Cup when an anti-doping commission of FIFA visited Costa Rica as part of a routine control carried out on national teams competing in Brazil. Two of those players undergo testing after the Uruguay match and the other six were tested after the Italy match and a seventh Costa Rica player was chosen by lottery. FIFA was challenged by Coach Jorge Luis Pinto to test all his players and even himself after the next match of Costa Rica against England on Tuesday in Belo Horizonte. Pinto remarked he is happy that they do these types of tests and added if they want in the next match, they can test all 11 players on the pitch and even me.
Football legend Diego Maradona hit out at FIFA after claiming that seven of Costa Rica’s players were subjected to post-match anti-doping controls. Maradona alleged that doping scrutiny on Costa Rica was due to fears that sponsors would not pay up if bigger teams like Italy failed to get out of the group stage at the World Cup finals. The football legend from Argentina said decision of FIFA amounted to a lack of respect for the rules and said he is not impressed by FIFA’s explanation. Maradona said this is only happening because some people are annoyed Costa Rica, and not the big teams, are going through to the next round, and so the sponsors won’t pay what they’d promised to pay. He went on to remark that it is against the rules as two players from each team are supposed to undergo doping controls.
Maradona is familiar with anti-doping tests, failing a test in 1994 and being sent home for taking the stimulant Ephedrine. He was also banned for 15-months for testing positive for cocaine.
Coach Jorge Luis Pinto challenged FIFA to test all his players and even himself after Costa Rica’s next match, which is against England today in Belo Horizonte.
“I’m happy that they do these types of tests,” he said. “If they want in the next match, they can test all 11 players on the pitch and even me.”
Costa Rica stunned South American champions Uruguay 3-1 last week and then won 1-0 over four-time champions Italy in Recife to qualify for the last 16 of the World Cup
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FINA SUSPENDS RUSSIAN SWIMMERS YULIYA EFIMOVA AND STRIPPED OF WORLD RECORDS
Yuliya Efimova of Russia has received a ban of 16 months, retroactive to October 31, 2013 and concluding next year on February 28. The world governing body of swimming, FINA, made this communication in its final decision against the swimmer after her positive test for 7-keto-DHEA during an out-of-competition test that took place in Los Angeles.
FINA also decided to strip Efimova from all results since October 31, 2013 that includes four European short course titles and four world records. With this announcement, the European short course wins now goes to Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte (50-meter breast along with her 100-meter breast win) and Rikke Pedersen Moeller (200-meter breast). Germany finishes with the mixed 200-meter medley relay victory for the team of Christian Diener, Caroline Ruhnau, Steffen Deibler, and Dorothea Brandt while Denmark’s women’s 200-meter medley relay earns gold with Mie Nielsen, Jeanette Ottesen, Pernille Blume, and Pedersen taking home that win with Russia losing the world record in that event.
Efimova will lose four world records in total. Her 200-meter breaststroke record of 2:14.39 will go back to Rebecca Soni’s 2:14.57 from the Duel in the Pool. Russia will also lose the mixed medley relay and women’s medley relay records from Euro short course champs and the 50-meter breaststroke record of Efimova from the FINA World Cup tour will not be ratified.
Efimova plead ignorance during her hearings with the FINA Doping Panel that she had taken similar supplements containing L-carnitine ever since she was a teenager. She remarked that a sales person at a local GNS store in Los Angeles told her that a product named Cellucor CLK was “doping-free.” It was claimed by Efimova that her lack of English skills was behind the poor decision to take the supplement, instead of just not taking any L-carnitine at all, especially since DHEA was clearly listed as an ingredient on the label of the product.
However, Efimova accepted the fact that she would have found that DHEA was prohibited if she had compared the supplement ingredients to the banned list. FINA imposed a relaxed ban on her because the swimmer detailed that her intent never was to find any performance enhancement. Efimova bought the product in September of 2013, went on the World Cup tour to Doha, Dubai and Moscow in October and tested clean at each of these stops. She used the product on October 22 when she returned to the U.S. and had run out of her previous supply of L-carnitine and even detailed that she had been taking L-carnitine on her doping control form.
FINA Doping Panel remarked that it has concluded that a sixteen-month period of eligibility is both just and fair under the circumstances of this case upon balancing all the relevant factors and after considering many other cases across a wide spectrum of sports.
Efimova is likely to bypass an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and expected to focus on the future with the potential of still competing at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan.
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Vitor Belfort's Drug Test Results Will Be Made Public at June 17 NSAC Meeting
UFC middleweight fighter Vitor Belfort’s drug test results from February will be made public on June 17th.
On June 17th Belfort must go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for a comprehensive licensing review, hoping to obtain his license so he can fight Chael Sonnen on July 5th at UFC 175 main event.
Bob Bennett, the executive director of the NSAC said, “The test results will be made public, yes. If Mr. Belfort appears at his hearing, which I’m sure he will, the commissioners will get to question him about any topics they want and I’m sure that will come up.”
Belfort had to submit a sample to a random drugs test back in February in Las Vegas, but controversy has surrounded the test. Belfort is allegedly on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and injects testosterone at a dose consistent with putting his total testosterone levels as the same as a normal eugondal male. Belfort also failed a drugs test back in 2006 for anabolic steroids adding fuel to the fire.
Belfort was originally set to face UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC 173, but withdrew from the bout less than 24 hours after the NSAC unanimously voted to ban the use of testosterone replacement therapy in Nevada.
Joe Rogan has since commented, perhaps letting the cat out of the bag and claiming Belfort did, in fact, fail the random drugs test in February, leading to the wider ban on HRT use in the UFC.
“They did it to Vitor…random drug test. And Vitor was on testosterone. That’s the reason that testosterone got banned in the first place. The whole thing went down when Vitor tested positive with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, after that. Before that, they were considering him for a testosterone exemption….And because he tested positive they scrapped the whole testosterone program”, Rogan explained.
All this comes after Wanderlei Silva refused to submit a drug test sample, following officials randomly turning up before the original main card event at UFC 175. Silva refused the drugs test and then professed his innocence but was removed from fighting Chael Sonnon. Belfort then took Silva’s place, but that now looks in doubt after these reports.
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Former UFC champ Ken Shamrock: If we remove steroids from sports 'people won't want to turn on their TV anymore'
Ken “The World's Most Dangerous Man” Shamrock, the mixed martial arts legend and UFC Hall of Famer, doesn't think sports fans really want athletes to give up anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Shamrock shared his views on this topic during an interview with Chad Mendes for Submission Radio on May 17, 2014.
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“I think that when people talk about banning the substances, it's funny because I don’t think people really realise what they’re asking, or what they're saying," Shamrock said. "If they take these things out of the sports, people are going to be backed up 20 years as far as competitiveness. The athleticism and the strength and the stuff these guys are doing will be dropped significantly and the entertainment value will drop with it, and I don’t really think people realize what they’re asking for.”
Shamrock believes that fans have become accustomed to a certain high level of performance in sports. And these performances have been sustained for a very, very long time by steroids and PEDs. Rampant steroid use has been going on at the elite level for over fifty years. If people understood how dependent sports performances have become on these drugs, the fans would not be so supportive of efforts to eliminate steroids.
“It'll be so bad that people won’t want to turn on the TV anymore because they're not going to be able to see what there used to seeing," Shamrock told Mendes.
Shamrock, due to his hypermuscular physique, was long suspected of using anabolic steroids long before he admitted using them. While Shamrock has not hidden the fact that he has used steroids, he has denied using them while “in the ring”.
“I never entered into the ring while using steroids,” Shamrock claimed on AXS TV's “Inside MMA” earlier this year. “I was never in the ring and fought with steroids – ever. Just to get that clear. But I have used steroids in the past."
Shamrock believes steroids are unfairly demonized. Rather than being performance-enhancing drugs, Shamrock characterized steroids as a useful, if not necessary, adjunct to maintain the health of elite athletes; PEDs facilitate physical recovery from the extreme nature of the training and competition.
Shamrock claims that anti-doping efforts have back-fired. Rather than eliminate steroids from sports, the efforts have only pushed steroid use underground. Athletes are unable to attain human grade pharmaceutical steroids and are forced to purchase the drugs on the black market; the anti-doping rules prevent athletes from going to a doctor so that their health can be closely monitored. The result is that athletes are placing their health at an increased risk due to the lack of medical supervision.
Shamrock thinks the current war on steroids has failed. He suggested that the entire anti-doping machine should be replaced by a system of medically-supervised doping. If doping is permitted, the use of PEDs can be closely monitored and supervised such that the use of steroids and other drugs can be used at a relatively safe threshold.
"I think that If they could somehow find a safe level, make these guys all make sure they got their own doctors to put 'em on it, if they're gonna go on it to have their own doctors put 'em on it and make sure that the doctors are giving physicals every month, once a month, keeping them at a safe level, I think that’s how you fix the problem,” said Shamrock.
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Chael Sonnen Blasts Wanderlei Silva, Says He Ran from Drug Test Ahead of UFC 175
Wanderlei Silva has failed to submit a drug test and has now been removed from his fight against Chael Sonnen in UFC 175.
The UFC main card was planned to be Wanderlei Silva vs. Chael Sonnon, but that is not going to happen now as when asked to submit a sample for a mandatory and random drug test last Saturday in Las Vegas, by Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) officials, Wanderlei Silva allegedly refused.
Refusing to submit a sample is considered the same as a failure by the commission and Wanderlei Silva will now be dealt with by the NSAC and should expect some sort of ban or suspension.
Chael Sonnon has added his opinion and is understandably angry at events and Silva’s unwilling less to comply with rules with drug testing. Sonnen appeared on Wednesday nights UFC Tonight and blasted Silva for his refusal and foresaw the commission revoking Silva’s license.
“Wanderlei has operated his entire career under the shadow of suspicion that he was using performance-enhancing drugs. However, he has never failed a drug test, so we don’t speculate on those types of things,” Sonnen said on the FOX Sports 1 program. ”That clean record came to a screeching halt on Saturday night. Not only did he fail his test, he refused to take the test. And as you know, a refusal is equal in the eyes of the commission to a failure.
“He ran from the test … and I don’t mean that figuratively; I mean they came to his gym and he literally ran. He goes out of sight where they come after him, saying his name. I have not spoke to the athletic commission in Nevada, so here I am, going to speculate that they will revoke his license and perhaps his career with the UFC will be done.”
However, Silva stated a different series of events when asked, attempting to show he was somewhat innocent due to language barriers.
“Last Saturday a guy showed up at my gym with several papers in English saying that I had to sign the papers. I asked him if all the documents were written in English and he said yes. He did not show me any identification,” Silva explained.
“So I told him that I can’t read English very well and I would need my lawyer present to be able to sign any documents. Then I had to leave since it was the day of (Renan) Barao’s fight and I was really busy here in Vegas.”
Silva went on to state he’s never been guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs in the past.
“In 20 years of career and 50 professional fights, I never refused to test or failed to apply for a license to fight,” Silva said. “Once I am back in Las Vegas, I will reach out to the NCSA (Nevada State Athletic Commission) to submit myself to any blood or urine test like I always have done.”
Dana White first stated Silva was “done”, but these words were taken out of context when media reported White implied his career is finished in the UFC. White went on to confirm he’s “done” for the July 5th fight, but remains a UFC fighter and will be dealt with by the NSAC.
Silva remained hopeful even though his fight is off with Sonnon for the time being, “This is the fight I wanted the most in my entire life, and I will do everything I can to make this fight happen,” Silva said. “All this will get resolved and I will be there on July 5 to put on a great show for all of you, my friends.”
The UFC 175 main card is now Chael Sonnon vs. Vitor Belfort on 5th July.
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Report: Ali Bagautinov banned from International Sambo Federation after failed drug test
UFC’s Ali Bagautinov Failed Drug Test In 2012
It has recently come to light that UFC flyweight title challenger and Sambo champion Ali Bagautinov, was banned by the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) back in 2012 for a positive drug test.
The positive test was for Methylhexaneamine, commonly known as 1,3-dimethylamylamine or DMAA. DMAA is an inhaled nasal decongestant pharmaceutical drug that was produced by Lilly, whilst also a indirect sympathomimetic drug and stimulant.
The positive test landed Bagautinov a two-year ban from 9th November – 8th November 2014. Forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes and also any financial gain by being part of the FIAS.
However, this was in late 2012 but it seems this suspension is still in place. Bagautinov has a title fight coming up in the UFC 173 main event. But Dana White, UFC’s president, doesn’t seem interested that he is banned in another sport. Dana White was asked and he declined to comment, stating only that it “wasn’t important.”
Methylhexaneamine has hit the headlines before when Major League Baseball and the World Anti-Doping Agency, banned Jays prospect Marcus Stroman for 50 games. Methylhexaneamine is one of 56 stimulants on the banned list by the MLB.
While it’s chemically related to amphetamines, it’s only slightly more powerful than a cup of coffee, according to Greg Wells, a kinesiology professor at the University of Toronto who has educated Olympic athletes on doping rules.
“It’s a short-acting stimulant, but it’s not something that we need to hang this guy up for anything like that,” Wells said. “It’s not a big deal.”
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NHL Suspends Zenon Konopka For Positive PED Test
The NHL has suspended Buffalo Sabres Zenon Konopka for 20 games without pay for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Konopka has claimed he took an over the counter product which is responsible for his failed drug test, but fell short of naming the product he took. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of products sold by retailers and online that could cause a positive PED drugs test.
Konopka issued a statement exclaiming his innocence and pulling the “I don’t know” card from the deck and playing a fool. Regardless of him co-operating with the NHL to name the substance he’s been handed the mandatory 20-game suspension without pay.
“I deeply regret that I have tested positive for a prohibited substance in violation of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program,” he said. ”I accept full responsibility for this error. As a professional athlete I am responsible for what I put in my body, and I am to blame for this mistake.
“I want to make it clear that this violation occurred because I ingested a product that can be purchased over-the-counter and which, unknown to me, contained a substance that violated the program. Unfortunately, I did not take the necessary care to ensure that the product did not contain a prohibited substance. I want to stress, however, that I did not take this substance for the purpose of enhancing my athletic performance.
“I apologize to my teammates and to the Buffalo Sabres organization, as well as to my friends and family. I have learned a great deal from this experience, something I hope to be able to share with younger players. I will accept this suspension and continue to work hard to prepare for the 2014-15 season.”
Under terms of the collective-bargaining agreement, a first positive test for performance-enhancing substances results in mandatory 20-game suspension and a mandatory referral to the League’s Substance Abuse/Behavioral Health Program for evaluation, education and possible treatment. A second test would mean a 60-game suspension and third test is a lifetime suspension, but players have the ability to appeal.
With Konopkas contract expiring at the end of the season and this 20-game suspension preventing him from playing further, its unclear what the future holds for the 2014-2015 NHL season for Konopka.
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