15 Premier League stars failed drugs tests between 2015 and 2020 but none of them were banned, a report has revealed.
Of those 15, 12 tested positive for banned performance-enhancing substances whilst another was still being investigated five months after his initial test, but no ban was handed out. Across a seven year period from 2013 there were a staggering 88 positive tests among footballers in England, Scotland and Wales.
The 12 performance-enhancing substance cases included one positive test for an amphetamine and three findings of triamcinolone, which is the corticosteroid that Sir Bradley Wiggins used before his Tour de France victory in 2012. The cases involving Premier League players also featured four positives for the stimulant Ritalin.
There was one positive test for the testosterone booster Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone which has regularly abused in cycling and MMA. The other top-flight positives were for the steroids prednisolone and a derivative, as well as the diuretic indapamide, which can serve as a masking agent for other banned substances. The Mail broke the news following a series of Freedom of Information requests.
None of the cases led to doping bans, with UKAD (UK Anti-doping Agency) saying a decision not to sanction was generally down to accidental ingestion or the player having a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). Having a TUE granted has caused a stir in other sports.
Wiggins' TUE in his Tour de France success has resulted in huge speculation with the cyclist having to defend himself on numerous occasions. British Cycling's former head doctor Richard Freeman has since said: "Unfortunately, on medical grounds, I would [act differently]. Now I would also advise him there's a reputational risk here."
When an athlete is told they have tested positive, they are advised to "promptly" undergo tests to ensure that a medical condition is ruled out as the source of their failed drugs test. The Premier League were believed to be comfortable that all 12 'performance-enhancing' cases had innocent explanations which is why no bans were handed out.
There have been very few cases of footballers being banned for failed drugs tests in the modern era. Rio Ferdinand, then of Manchester United famously missed a drugs test back in 2003 and was subsequently banned for eight months. Adrian Mutu, formerly of Chelsea, also tested positive for cocaine and received a nine-month ban.
In October 2019, a 15-year-old child registered to a Premier League club was found with a banned human growth hormone-dispensing pen and was banned for nine months.
