tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post3299921543603809520..comments2023-08-24T03:41:03.133+12:00Comments on the beautiful game: how to die with your boots on: Pep Guardiola's very bad yearLindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09807392842004716065noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-59759437824690566292011-06-08T11:33:12.270+12:002011-06-08T11:33:12.270+12:00Hi Linda,
Thanks for the reply. There are many ex...Hi Linda,<br /><br />Thanks for the reply. There are many examples of athletes having their doping cases overturned that I know of. Sometimes these are for believable reasons sometimes not. I'll give a couple of examples:<br /><br />Tyler Hamilton the US cyclist won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics after which he failed a test for blood doping. Unfortunately his B sample had not been properly stored and was unable to be tested to verify the original test. Therefore he was allowed keep his gold medal. This case isn't similar to Guardiola's really, I use it as an example because to use your own words Tyler Hamilton was "innocent because the justice system he was charged under has deemed him so". He did recently admit to the blood doping and offered to return the gold medal, but for years he was considered by the system to have won his olympic gold medal cleanly. That's why I think it is important not just to say somebody was cleared by the system, instead you need to know the context of why they were cleared and what arguments they used.<br /><br />Doping cases are often very complex, you often have multiple bodies involved in a single case: national sporting bodies, international sporting bodies, doping agencies, civil courts and criminal courts. Sometimes a doper will win a minor battle against one of these agencies and use his PR machine to spread the message that he has been cleared when this is not really the case.<br /><br />Take another example, Linford Christie. He failed a drugs test at the 1988 Olympics but escaped a ban. He failed another test in 1999 for Nandralone. The international association banned him, but the UK association accepted Linfords excuses. So even though he served a 2 year ban the myth is propogated that he was cleared.<br /><br />Another athlete who tested positive for Nandralone and had their case overturned is the Canadian/British tennis player Greg Rusedski in 2004. There were a lot of failed drug tests for Nandralone in this period. Lots of reasons for this were put forward, such as tainted supplements, natural production of Nandralone by the body, the production of Nandralone while urine samples were in storage. I'm not sure a definitive explanation for this raft of positive Nandralone tests ever came out.<br /><br />I don't have an opinion on the Guardiola case, as you say there is very little information in English online about his. I'm just interested to find out the background to the case, what level of Nandralone was found and what his defence was.cobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09865711954924014696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-60935453672323836962011-06-07T11:37:27.023+12:002011-06-07T11:37:27.023+12:00Cob: Hi, thanks for commenting! I have a few thing...Cob: Hi, thanks for commenting! I have a few things to say by way of reply and a question for you.<br /><br />1) I'm not assuming anything. He's innocent because the justice system he was charged under has deemed him so. The fact that he tried so hard for so long to clear his name speaks to his personality more than anything else.<br /><br />2) On your question about his defence, I believe it was based on new research which suggested that the human body in some cases did produce the required amount of nandrolone naturally. But it is very difficult to confirm the exact details, because the original ban was so long ago and the press reports are scarce and usually not in English.<br /><br />And my question, if you would be so kind: my knowledge on doping is very thin on the ground outside of football. Are there many other cases of people who were convicted of doping having their cases overturned?Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09807392842004716065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-6804882245070699902011-06-07T10:32:49.537+12:002011-06-07T10:32:49.537+12:00I have to disagree with the other commenter I don&...I have to disagree with the other commenter I don't think your article is that comprehensive. You've just assumed that because Guardiola spent a lot of time and money trying to clear his name he must be innocent. But there are lots of cases of people who were guilty of doping and still spent a lot of money to clear their name.<br />Since you've done some research on this I wonder could you outline what Guardiola's defence was based around. Was it that the Nandrolone was produced purely by his own body? How much Nandrolone was found in the samples that he originally failed the test for?<br />I don't have an opinion one way or the other about Guardiola's case. I'm just a bit sceptical about lots cases where athletes manage to get cleared of doping charges. There's not a lot of information online about this case so I'd be interested in learning more.cobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09865711954924014696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-46018971471644754332011-03-04T03:28:52.848+13:002011-03-04T03:28:52.848+13:00Doris: thank you very much! Especially as my resea...Doris: thank you very much! Especially as my research would not be nearly as fruitful without the work of translators like yourself, so thank you for that too.<br /><br />Messa: Thanks! I personally become quite irritated when people lump Guardiola in with other 'drug cheats' who got away with it (as a goal.com 'article' did a while back). He fought so hard to clear his name and it's infuriating to see that ignored.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09807392842004716065noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-31361615466990280122011-03-04T02:05:09.594+13:002011-03-04T02:05:09.594+13:00Thank you so much for this! Totally comprehensive ...Thank you so much for this! Totally comprehensive article about the drug affair; Pep's persistence and the reasons behind it are the most admirable things in the world. I've only been a football fan since 2006 so most of this was lost on me; it was such a great read and bit well (eerily?) timed too, as I've been putting up with a United fan who insists that Pep's current back trouble is 'the drug use catching up with him' ... !Aya Krishthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04126362015228752099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34112228.post-67304381031797005052011-03-02T22:52:09.791+13:002011-03-02T22:52:09.791+13:00great article, I knew that story before, but I alw...great article, I knew that story before, but I always good to know more, very well written piece,thanks for sharing this, I will recomend this to all barca fans:)lalallahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295155030860600731noreply@blogger.com