Steroid Abuse

Minor League Players Face Suspension over Performance Enhancing Drugs

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Addiction, Steroid Abuse on July 27th, 2010

Six Minor League players were given suspensions due to violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The announcement was made by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball on Monday, according to a report on The Biz of Baseball.

steroidsThe players were suspended after testing positive for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. One of them is Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League outfielder Prentice Redman, who was suspended for 100 days. Redman tested positive for an amphetamine, and the 100-day suspension will go into effect after he completes his current 50-game suspension. Redman is with the Triple-A Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League.

Three Minor League players of the Milwaukee Brewers were suspended for 50 games, effective immediately: third baseman Allixon Cequea, outfielder Erickson Salaya, and pitcher Leonard Lorenzo. All the aforementioned players belong to the Dominican Summer League team. The report said that Cequea and Salaya tested positive for metabolites of Nandrolone; Lorenzo, on the other hand, tested positive for a metabolite of Boldenone.

Two other players belonging to the roster of the Dominican Summer League Team were suspended for 50 games each, effective immediately. These are Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Jose Valdez, and Oakland Athletics’ pitcher Leudis Benzant. Valdez, like Lorenzo, tested positive for a metabolite of Boldenone, while Benzant tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol.

According to the report, sixteen minor league players were suspended due to violations of its drug policy over the last week alone. A total of 60 minor league players faced suspensions that collectively added up to 3,100 games.

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Canadian University Suspends Football Program Over Doping

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Testing, Steroid Abuse on June 15th, 2010

We have heard about star players being suspended from a team or from playing in a certain number of games due to suspected illegal drug use, but a university in Canada has suspended an entire program for anti-doping violations.

According to a report on The New York Times, the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, has suspended its football program after an investigation revealed anti-doping violations by nine players. The University has cancelled football for the coming season and has placed the coaches of the team on paid leave as a review is being conducted.

drug testThe investigation was sparked by the charging of a University of Waterloo football player, Nathan Zettler, with possession and trafficking of anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is described as a treatment for breast cancer that is also used to counter the undesirable effects of steroids. The university turned to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and had the whole team tested.

University of Waterloo director of athletics Bob Copeland said: “I was surprised and disappointed at the same time. It’s really a wake-up call for people across Canada.” He said further that the fact that there was quite a number of positive results after the entire team was subjected to testing meant that the regular drug testing program being implemented in Canada for university athletes was not effective.

Samples were taken from all 62 players at the University of Waterloo as well as players in two other universities. There were no positive results found in the tests conducted in the other schools.

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David Haye — Another Drug Testing Advocate in Boxing

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Testing, Steroid Abuse on June 10th, 2010

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not alone in his random drug testing stance for boxing bouts. World heavyweight champion David Haye, through his trainer and manager Adam Booth, has expressed his intention to make mandatory Olympic-style drug testing a staple in boxing bouts. And according to a feature on the Telegraph, he has the backing of the World Boxing Association.

David HayeBooth said that Haye would like to use his being the world heavyweight champion to clean up boxing, much in the same way that Floyd Mayweather Jr. did. Booth said further: “Mayweather pulled a masterstroke. We’d like every fighter to embrace random drug-testing. There is no conceivable reason why any fighter would not agree to random drug testing. The only way to clean up the sport is to do this, and start from the top down. While David Haye has a voice in the sport and a position as world heavyweight champion, he wants to do his bit. He is going to be quite vociferous about it.”

Negotiations are reportedly under way for Haye’s next fight; the announcement as to who his opponent will be may be made next month. There are a number of options shared: there is Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko, as well as Nikolai Valuev. Haye beat Valuev in November and took the WBA belt, but Valuev has a rematch clause in his contract. Home Box Office is said to be pushing for a fight between Hayes and Tomasz Adamek, while Audley Harrison, former Olympic champion, is also looking to fight Haye in the ring.

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Santana Moss and His Connection with Dr. Anthony Galea

Posted by Drug Free in Steroid Abuse on May 27th, 2010

The fact that Santana Moss was dragged into the controversy surrounding Dr. Anthony Galea has some people wondering: did the Washington Redskins wide receiver get human growth hormone from the Toronto sports doctor or not?

He is, after all, not the only sports star whose name is being dragged into this affair. Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran have all been treated by Dr. Galea. “Treated with what?” is a question that remains to be answered.

Santana MossAccording to a report on the New York Daily News, Dr. Galea was on his way to Washington in order to treat Moss when his assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, was nabbed at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo. Galea is now being accused of unlawful distribution of HGH and smuggling, among other criminal charges. If convicted, Dr. Galea may have up to 20 years in an American prison.

HGH is banned by the NFL, although it does not test for it. There is speculation that Moss may face disciplinary action for using banned substances due to the issue, but a feature on KansasCity.com shares that Coach Mike Shanahan is said to be confident that Moss will not be disciplined.

Fellow Washington Redskins athlete Phillip Daniels said that Moss shared that he was undergoing treatments under Dr. Galea’s care, and the treatments were described as routine and did not have anything to do with banned substances.

Coach Shanahan said: “I sat down and talked to Santana today and went through a bunch of situations that have happened to him, and I feel really good about where he’s at. I feel real good that he’ll be, I don’t know if ‘vindicated’ is the word, but when people find out all the facts, everything will be OK.”

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Minor League Baseball Players Test Positive for Drugs

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Testing, Steroid Abuse on May 23rd, 2010

We have shared with you how MMA fighters aced drug tests conducted during a recent event; this time around, however, we share news about athletes who failed their drug tests.

Myrtle Beach PelicansThree players of Minor League’s Myrtle Beach Pelicans tested positive for a substance that is considered as a performance-enhancing drug, according to a feature on The Sun News. The players are shortstop Amadeo Zazueta, second baseman Albaro “Yoel” Campusano, and first baseman/outfielder Gerardo Rodriguez. The substance is reportedly an amphetamine, and although Kurt Kemp, the Director of Player Development of the Atlanta Braves, was informed about the actual substance and the dates of the tests he said he was not at liberty to discuss the details.

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the advanced Class A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves organization.

The announcement was made on Friday by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. The three players were each suspended for 50 games, with the suspension set to begin immediately after the announcement. Failing the tests meant that the players were in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

According to Kurt Kemp, players are subjected to random testing all year, and are required to make their whereabouts known during the offseason. Drug testing for Minor League Baseball is conducted by a body that is different from that which handles testing for Major League Baseball, although their drug prevention and treatment programs are both being handled by the office of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

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Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Pass Drug Tests

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Testing, Steroid Abuse on May 22nd, 2010

There’s good news for MMA enthusiasts: fights are still taint-free, at least when certain fighters are involved. The six fighters who were tested for performance-enhancing as well as illegal drugs have passed drug tests with flying colors.

The testing was conducted last Saturday at the “Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery” event at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Six fighters were confirmed drug-free by Strikeforce spokesperson Mike Afromowitz.

Alistar OvereemA post on Testing It Up wondered about whether testing will be conducted during the May 15 fight, being as it were that there were speculations that Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem may be using performance-enhancing drugs. Overeem defended his title against challenger Brett Rogers, whom he defeated with a first-round TKO. The fighters included in the list of fighters who passed drug testing were Overeem, Antonio Silva, Joey Villasenor, and Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcente.

Test results for main-card competitors – including Brett Rogers, Andrei Arlovski (who fought Antonio Silva), Roger Gracie and Kevin Randleman – are not yet available.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker shared that they worked with a local facility in the implementation of the testing. Coker shared the following with MMAJunkie.com: “We fixed the problem by drug testing everybody. If there’s a problem, we’ll let people know. It was the right thing to do because the commission is doing random testing, and I didn’t want to leave any chance or a crack of skepticism. And this puts everybody in check. We’ll do it again if we have to.”

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