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Sunday Times - 150 sportsman (inc footballers) doping scandal

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,149

62c29bfb7a7d0da020076e9651364f28ffe5cb526a2a37c45237041f591a5ebc.jpg
 

panoma

Well-Known Member
Jan 16, 2012
3,931
12,250
Leicester have been on quite a run ever since they looked dead cert to get relegated a year ago. They all return so fast from injuries to. And Vardy going from Fleetwood to top scorer in England between age 25-29 (n)

It's probably just random and sensational journalism, but would be lovely (for us) if something was up!
Regardless of what happens, it might derail them a tad if nothing else.
 

L-man

Misplaced pass from Dier
Dec 31, 2008
9,979
51,367
Knowing our luck, it'll be revealed that someone horrific like Paulinho was on every drug under the sun and we'll be deducted points
 

wadewill

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2005
3,163
10,482
Not jumping on the bandwagon. Nothing will happen anyway. But I have said for months that something is a miss with leicesters rise. At least we have slowly got the fitness levels we are at, we struggled at times last season towards the end of games. Their players have become fitter stronger and faster over a very very short period.
 

THFCSPURS19

The Speaker of the Transfer Rumours Forum
Jan 6, 2013
37,894
130,529
Daniel Ainsworth ‏@Ainsworth1980 1 tfor 1 time siden
Got news on the #doping story. Stay tuned for teams & names.

54 retweets 15 liker









  • 14.12 - 2. apr. 2016 · Detaljer
    ">







  1. Who is this guy?


Daniel Ainsworth ‏@Ainsworth1980
Leicester: Mahrez, Kante, Okazaki, Drinkwater Arsenal: Welbeck and Gabriel Chelsea: Traore, Willian, Costa Spurs: Alli, Toby and Lamela
A blatantly obvious troll.
 

wadewill

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2005
3,163
10,482
Daniel Ainsworth ‏@Ainsworth1980 1 tfor 1 time siden
Got news on the #doping story. Stay tuned for teams & names.

54 retweets 15 liker









  • 14.12 - 2. apr. 2016 · Detaljer
    ">







  1. Who is this guy?


Daniel Ainsworth ‏@Ainsworth1980
Leicester: Mahrez, Kante, Okazaki, Drinkwater Arsenal: Welbeck and Gabriel Chelsea: Traore, Willian, Costa Spurs: Alli, Toby and Lamela

He has just picked the most improved players from each team.... Gabriel needs to ask for his money back though
 

Spurger King

can't smile without glue
Jul 22, 2008
43,881
95,149
But you could say the same about Spurs: we run harder and further than most teams and our performances have massively improved. Thankfully we don't seem to be involved.

Times going for front page hopefully suggests they have tangible evidence. I would have thought naming clubs would make them liable for legal claims.

True, but we also have a world class training ground with world class facilities, the youngest team in the division, and a manager known for playing a Bielsa-inspired brand of pressing football.

Our high-energy performances make sense. Leicester's don't at all.

Either way, this is perfect timing for us. A guy being caught in an undercover interview dropping the teams directly in front and behind us, deep in the shit. This is the kind of stuff that fucks with your mind, and puts doubts in the heads of players.

At worst, it will cause some unnecessary grief for the Leicester and Arsenal squads (at a time when they are both under a lot of pressure). At best we might have won the league already without even knowing it, as there is no way these clubs would avoid points deductions if this (probably fabricated) story is true.

The other point is that mud sticks, and as others have mentioned, this will dampen the Leicester love-in to some degree.
 

UpTownSpur

Says it like it is
Dec 31, 2014
2,266
4,362


British doctor claims he doped 150 sports stars

Insight Published: 3 April 2016
01_NH03DOP_1218805k.jpg


A British doctor has been secretly filmed describing how he prescribed banned performance- enhancing drugs to 150 elite sportsmen, including Premier League footballers.

An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that Dr Mark Bonar charges sports stars thousands of pounds for illicit drug programmes.

Yesterday, the culture secretary, John Whittingdale, ordered an inquiry into the taxpayer-funded UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) watchdog, which was given evidence about the doctor’s doping activities two years ago, but failed to take any action to stop him.

Bonar, 38, who is based at a private London clinic, made a series of extraordinary disclosures in meetings with undercover reporters which lay bare for the first time the depth of the drugs cheating culture within British sport. He claimed:

•His network of secret “clients” included an England cricketer, British Tour de France cyclists, a British boxing champion, tennis players and martial arts competitors as well as football players

•Bonar claims he has treated Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City and Birmingham City players. Despite Bonar’s claims, The Sunday Times has no independent evidence Bonar treated the players. There is no evidence the clubs were aware of Bonar’s relationship with any players or drug use by them.

•In the past six years he has treated more than 150 sports people from the UK and abroad variously with banned substances such as erythropoietin (EPO), steroids and human growth hormone, and the sports performance improvements were “phenomenal”

•He was introduced to several sportsmen by a former Chelsea fitness coach who himself said he had suggested to a Premier League player that he should contact the doctor about steroid treatment.

•He had given performance- enhancing drugs to two professional dancers from BBC television’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Bonar’s description of his illicit work will shock British sports fans. It comes in the wake of this newspaper’s doping scandal exposé last summer, which revealed widespread cheating at top international athletics events.

His admissions also raise serious questions about the competence of Ukad, which has been chosen to investigate the recent doping allegations in Russian sport and will oversee the worldwide effort to stamp out the use of banned drugs ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

Ukad, which receives £6m of taxpayers’ money to police British sport, was given documentary evidence of the doctor’s doping activities two years ago, but dismissed the allegations after a perfunctory investigation.

Whittingdale said he was “shocked and deeply concerned” by the revelations about Bonar and demanded to know why Ukad did not act sooner. “I have asked for an urgent independent investigation into what action was taken when these allegations were first received and what more needs to be done to ensure that British sport remains clean,” he said.

“There is no room for complacency in the fight against doping and the government is already looking at whether existing legislation in this area goes far enough. If it becomes clear that stronger criminal sanctions are needed, then we will not hesitate to act.”

After viewing the undercover footage of the meetings with Bonar, Toni Minichiello, coach to the Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill, said: “This case shows that British sport has a bigger doping problem than any of us imagined.”

He called on Nicole Sapstead, Ukad’s chief executive, to resign. “Her clear error of judgment in failing to ensure Ukad properly investigated Bonar makes her position untenable because she has failed in her fundamental duty to protect clean athletes.”

Lord Moynihan, the former sports minister, called for Ukad to be suspended from its duties and said Sapstead’s position appeared to be “untenable”. Emails confirm Sapstead was aware of the case at the time.

Bonar is an anti-ageing doctor who treats private patients at the Omniya clinic in Knightsbridge, London. He claims to take a cut on the medications he prescribes. Omniya said last week that it did not know that Bonar was treating sports stars.

The Sunday Times was first tipped off about Bonar’s doping activities by a sportsman who had approached Ukad with evidence about the doctor after he himself had been suspended for breaching anti-doping rules.

In the hope of securing a reduction of his suspension, the sportsman handed investigators documents proving that Bonar had prescribed him the banned substances.

However, Ukad later dismissed the athlete’s evidence as being of “little or no value” and said there were “no grounds for action to be taken against Dr Bonar”. Ukad considered it had no jurisdiction over Bonar but it did not contact or pass on the evidence to the General Medical Council (GMC) which has clear rules stating that doctors should not prescribe drugs to enhance sporting performance.

To test the sportsman’s evidence, this newspaper sent an aspiring Olympic runner to Bonar’s clinic. His appointments were recorded using a hidden camera.

In the first meeting, Bonar told the athlete: “Some of these treatments I use are banned on a professional circuit. So, you have to be mindful of that. Having said that — I have worked with lots of professional athletes who do use these treatments.”

He prescribed prohibited drugs to the runner and suggested his performance would improve with a course of EPO which he was happy to supply.

The doctor went on to talk about the other sportsmen he claimed he had treated in a series of meetings with undercover reporters. He said drugs were now a part of sport and claimed he had “never met a clean athlete”.

It is the first time that Premier League players have been dragged into the doping scandal. Bonar claimed he had worked with “a few footballers” who have been or are currently members of the playing staff of the Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City, and the Championship side Birmingham City.

Bonar said athletes knew about his services through word of mouth. “I don’t really advertise . . . I don’t want that media scrutiny that kind of [thing], you know, coming down on you.”

Although he named athletes from several different sports, this newspaper has decided not to publicise them until Bonar’s claims have been further investigated. Those contacted by The Sunday Times either denied being treated by him or declined to comment.

As part of the service Bonar was offering to the undercover reporters, he introduced them to Rob Brinded, a former fitness coach at Chelsea football club. Bonar said the pair had “collaborated on a lot of clients”. He added: “We are a great team.”

Brinded revealed to the reporters that he had been told that a number of Chelsea players were taking banned sports drugs during his time at the club between 2001 and 2007. Yesterday his lawyer claimed that there must have been a “misunderstanding” and he denied saying that any Chelsea players were ever taking banned drugs.

He said he had recently suggested a first team player from a Premier League club contact Bonar in order to undergo a course of steroid treatment. “I know he’s [Bonar] worked with a lot of footballers,” Brinded said.

Brinded said he would not take part in the doping himself and that would all be dealt with by Bonar. There is no evidence that the players Bonar claims to have treated were referred to him by Brinded, who denies referring any sports clients to Bonar.

The General Medical Council’s rules state that doctors: “Must not prescribe or collude in the provision of medicines or treatment with the intention of improperly enhancing an individual’s performance in sport.”

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: ‘I would like to thank The Sunday Times for bringing these issues to our attention. These are serious allegations and we will follow them up as a matter of urgency.”

Last week Bonar denied doping sports stars to enhance their performance and said he had not breached GMC rules. “The fact that some of my patients happen to be professional athletes is irrelevant. If they have proven deficiencies on blood work and are symptomatic, I will treat them.

“They are well fully aware of the risks of using these medicines in professional sport and it is their responsibility to comply with anti-doping regulations.”

David Kenworthy, the chairman of Ukad, issued a statement saying: “An independent review will be conducted into the issues raised by The Sunday Times.

“They will also be asked to make any recommendations to improve the way in which intelligence is dealt with in the future so that Ukad can be as effective as possible in keeping sport clean
 

yankspurs

Enic Out
Aug 22, 2013
41,978
71,401
British doctor claims he doped 150 sports stars

Insight Published: 3 April 2016
01_NH03DOP_1218805k.jpg


A British doctor has been secretly filmed describing how he prescribed banned performance- enhancing drugs to 150 elite sportsmen, including Premier League footballers.

An investigation by The Sunday Times has found that Dr Mark Bonar charges sports stars thousands of pounds for illicit drug programmes.

Yesterday, the culture secretary, John Whittingdale, ordered an inquiry into the taxpayer-funded UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) watchdog, which was given evidence about the doctor’s doping activities two years ago, but failed to take any action to stop him.

Bonar, 38, who is based at a private London clinic, made a series of extraordinary disclosures in meetings with undercover reporters which lay bare for the first time the depth of the drugs cheating culture within British sport. He claimed:

•His network of secret “clients” included an England cricketer, British Tour de France cyclists, a British boxing champion, tennis players and martial arts competitors as well as football players

•Bonar claims he has treated Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City and Birmingham City players. Despite Bonar’s claims, The Sunday Times has no independent evidence Bonar treated the players. There is no evidence the clubs were aware of Bonar’s relationship with any players or drug use by them.

•In the past six years he has treated more than 150 sports people from the UK and abroad variously with banned substances such as erythropoietin (EPO), steroids and human growth hormone, and the sports performance improvements were “phenomenal”

•He was introduced to several sportsmen by a former Chelsea fitness coach who himself said he had suggested to a Premier League player that he should contact the doctor about steroid treatment.

•He had given performance- enhancing drugs to two professional dancers from BBC television’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Bonar’s description of his illicit work will shock British sports fans. It comes in the wake of this newspaper’s doping scandal exposé last summer, which revealed widespread cheating at top international athletics events.

His admissions also raise serious questions about the competence of Ukad, which has been chosen to investigate the recent doping allegations in Russian sport and will oversee the worldwide effort to stamp out the use of banned drugs ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

Ukad, which receives £6m of taxpayers’ money to police British sport, was given documentary evidence of the doctor’s doping activities two years ago, but dismissed the allegations after a perfunctory investigation.

Whittingdale said he was “shocked and deeply concerned” by the revelations about Bonar and demanded to know why Ukad did not act sooner. “I have asked for an urgent independent investigation into what action was taken when these allegations were first received and what more needs to be done to ensure that British sport remains clean,” he said.

“There is no room for complacency in the fight against doping and the government is already looking at whether existing legislation in this area goes far enough. If it becomes clear that stronger criminal sanctions are needed, then we will not hesitate to act.”

After viewing the undercover footage of the meetings with Bonar, Toni Minichiello, coach to the Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill, said: “This case shows that British sport has a bigger doping problem than any of us imagined.”

He called on Nicole Sapstead, Ukad’s chief executive, to resign. “Her clear error of judgment in failing to ensure Ukad properly investigated Bonar makes her position untenable because she has failed in her fundamental duty to protect clean athletes.”

Lord Moynihan, the former sports minister, called for Ukad to be suspended from its duties and said Sapstead’s position appeared to be “untenable”. Emails confirm Sapstead was aware of the case at the time.

Bonar is an anti-ageing doctor who treats private patients at the Omniya clinic in Knightsbridge, London. He claims to take a cut on the medications he prescribes. Omniya said last week that it did not know that Bonar was treating sports stars.

The Sunday Times was first tipped off about Bonar’s doping activities by a sportsman who had approached Ukad with evidence about the doctor after he himself had been suspended for breaching anti-doping rules.

In the hope of securing a reduction of his suspension, the sportsman handed investigators documents proving that Bonar had prescribed him the banned substances.

However, Ukad later dismissed the athlete’s evidence as being of “little or no value” and said there were “no grounds for action to be taken against Dr Bonar”. Ukad considered it had no jurisdiction over Bonar but it did not contact or pass on the evidence to the General Medical Council (GMC) which has clear rules stating that doctors should not prescribe drugs to enhance sporting performance.

To test the sportsman’s evidence, this newspaper sent an aspiring Olympic runner to Bonar’s clinic. His appointments were recorded using a hidden camera.

In the first meeting, Bonar told the athlete: “Some of these treatments I use are banned on a professional circuit. So, you have to be mindful of that. Having said that — I have worked with lots of professional athletes who do use these treatments.”

He prescribed prohibited drugs to the runner and suggested his performance would improve with a course of EPO which he was happy to supply.

The doctor went on to talk about the other sportsmen he claimed he had treated in a series of meetings with undercover reporters. He said drugs were now a part of sport and claimed he had “never met a clean athlete”.

It is the first time that Premier League players have been dragged into the doping scandal. Bonar claimed he had worked with “a few footballers” who have been or are currently members of the playing staff of the Premier League clubs Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City, and the Championship side Birmingham City.

Bonar said athletes knew about his services through word of mouth. “I don’t really advertise . . . I don’t want that media scrutiny that kind of [thing], you know, coming down on you.”

Although he named athletes from several different sports, this newspaper has decided not to publicise them until Bonar’s claims have been further investigated. Those contacted by The Sunday Times either denied being treated by him or declined to comment.

As part of the service Bonar was offering to the undercover reporters, he introduced them to Rob Brinded, a former fitness coach at Chelsea football club. Bonar said the pair had “collaborated on a lot of clients”. He added: “We are a great team.”

Brinded revealed to the reporters that he had been told that a number of Chelsea players were taking banned sports drugs during his time at the club between 2001 and 2007. Yesterday his lawyer claimed that there must have been a “misunderstanding” and he denied saying that any Chelsea players were ever taking banned drugs.

He said he had recently suggested a first team player from a Premier League club contact Bonar in order to undergo a course of steroid treatment. “I know he’s [Bonar] worked with a lot of footballers,” Brinded said.

Brinded said he would not take part in the doping himself and that would all be dealt with by Bonar. There is no evidence that the players Bonar claims to have treated were referred to him by Brinded, who denies referring any sports clients to Bonar.

The General Medical Council’s rules state that doctors: “Must not prescribe or collude in the provision of medicines or treatment with the intention of improperly enhancing an individual’s performance in sport.”

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: ‘I would like to thank The Sunday Times for bringing these issues to our attention. These are serious allegations and we will follow them up as a matter of urgency.”

Last week Bonar denied doping sports stars to enhance their performance and said he had not breached GMC rules. “The fact that some of my patients happen to be professional athletes is irrelevant. If they have proven deficiencies on blood work and are symptomatic, I will treat them.

“They are well fully aware of the risks of using these medicines in professional sport and it is their responsibility to comply with anti-doping regulations.”

David Kenworthy, the chairman of Ukad, issued a statement saying: “An independent review will be conducted into the issues raised by The Sunday Times.

“They will also be asked to make any recommendations to improve the way in which intelligence is dealt with in the future so that Ukad can be as effective as possible in keeping sport clean
No names? Really. Bullshit story.
 

easley91

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
19,114
54,868
Have to say something felt off when Mahrez pinged his hamstring and finished that match. Keeping an eye on this. Will take a deduction of points I don't care. If we're not involved we have played the right way and been the best team.

Did a little digging on twitter and some journo account claims Eriksen and N'Jie are involved. But at the same time that said 'recreational drugs' and not performence enhancers. Doubt they are using PED since Clinton has been injured all year.
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,904
23,973
Love the "doctor claims he's never met a clean athlete."

It's like a steak house chef saying "I've never served a vegan"

You're a drug dealer mate. You meet druggies. :rolleyes:
 

UpTownSpur

Says it like it is
Dec 31, 2014
2,266
4,362
Hmm, I think we know now how Vardy was able to play against us just days after a groin operation.
 

easley91

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
19,114
54,868
There'll be no names in case of any defamation. They won't be out until confirmed involved 100%.
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,904
23,973
He has just picked the most improved players from each team.... Gabriel needs to ask for his money back though
As I understand it Gabriel's drugs were purely suppressants to halt his unavoidable transformation into a werewolf.
 
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