It should come as no surprise that all Australian sporting codes are implicated in sophisticated use of performance enhancing drugs. The writing has been on the wall for years. Doping scandals have rocked the Olympics and our current media fascination is delving into the drug world that ensnared Lance Armstrong and the sport of cycling.
Today's sport is big business. Armstrong became a multi millionaire. Tiger Woods accumulated an amazing golf fortune. David Beckham got well rewarded for kicking around a soccer ball. The elite of world sports achieve a level of fame and fortune that compares well with the very folk who head the companies at the top of the financial pyramid.
Is it any wonder that the " waannabees " are prepared to take any risk and break any law to get even a small portion of the riches that await success ?
The relentless need for the media to feed off sport has fuelled the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Sport produces elite players - and with fame comes financial success. Is it any wonder that a drug that offers even a small " edge " will be eagerly accepted as the price to be paid for that success ?
It is clearly apparent that the world's big pharmaceutical companies are complicit in producing drugs that enhance performance - and are near impossible to detect. In many cases, this result is simply accidental to the research aim, but if it results in a new source of income the company concerned will cheerfully look the other way when it is accessed for an illegal purpose.
The drug world snares a legion of others who gain from supplying their services. Doctors. Trainers. Coaches. Promoters. They are offered big money to produce a team that wins - and to win they need players at the peak of their capacity - and if that means cheating - then so be it !
We are about to see a " witch hunt " that will tear sport in Australia apart. Reputations will be lost and some people will face long suspensions. Drug testing will be hugely enhanced and the promoters of every sport will beat their breasts and claim that their sport is now " clean "!
Nothing will really change. The criminal element will continue to smuggle prohibited substances into Australia and the big drug companies will continue to research stimulants that avoid detection. Competition in sport will continue to reward winners over losers, and the vast majority of players will desperately seek any sort of advantage that will take them to the top of the heap.
Fear of getting caught will persuade some to refuse stimulants, but when push comes to shove, the lure of big money that sport offers will be the difference when opportunity is offering. What we are facing is a thing called " human nature " - and the will to succeed and become rich usually prevails over all other human scruples.
The risks taken increase exponentially in proportion to the rewards that sport offers !
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