Desperation a big motivation for footballers taking risks on drugs | Daniel Taylor

26 September 2015 21:00
The story of Fleetwood’s Gerard Kinsella, banned after his taxi-driver cousin injected him with an unknown substance that proved to be nandrolone, shows insecurity can lead to fateful decisionsA few years back, a Premier League club found themselves in a moral dilemma because one of their academy players was creating problems behind the scenes. The boy was talented enough to have a chance of a successful career. But his behaviour was erratic and showed no sign of improvement. It went on long enough for psychiatric reports to be ordered and the prognosis was that he had a disorder – possibly ADHD – that needed medication.The problem for the club was that some of the drugs were prohibited, meaning that if he took them he could not continue as a footballer and would have to be cut free. That left the club with two choices: go with the medical opinion or try to find another way and, in effect, ignore the professional advice. Related: Referees’ debate over tackle on Luke Shaw shows limits of technology | Daniel Taylor Related: How FA’s new rule can wipe the floor with football’s blatant deceivers | Daniel Taylor Continue reading......read full article

Source: TheGuardian