Lex Football?

After having negotiated a special status with the World’s Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), FIFA is upsetting other sports associations by being untouchable when it comes to doping. The operative point of that status is that footballers should not be tested when they are on holidays, thus ignoring the notification of the whereabouts of individual players. It is interesting to see how many prerogatives football enjoys when it comes to doping.

A few weeks ago, two players from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim were ten minutes late for the test after the game. Although international WADA rules say that in cases like this no less than half of the doping penalty, which would be at least one year should apply, but guess what? Nothing happened. Wait, I think the staff person of the club who was responsible to bring the players to the test, had to step back. Ridiculous. I’m not implying anything. But if you want to take the doping issue seriously and want to complain further on about other athletes from different sports, you have to be strict and stick to the rules. This special status of the FIFA is a major setback in the fight against doping.

Do you remember when all the names of numerous athletes came up, Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes had ‘examined’, there was an outburst of disgust. But when further allegations surfaced, the Madrid-based doctor was also responsible for medicating several footballers from Real Madrid and other clubs suddenly everybody silenced. You couldn’t find a single word in the press anymore. Coincidence? Let’s all hope, that the allegations were false and that there is nothing to worry about…