FIFA warning over drug use

The head of drug testing at the World Cup today warned all teams to avoid giving players energy boosting food supplements.

After a number of players in Holland and Italy tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone after taking contaminated supplements last year, officials are eager to avoid a similar scandal during the finals.

Professor Jiri Dvorak, a senior member of FIFA's sports medical committee, said teams could remove any risk by avoiding supplements completely.

But if they do have to use them then he urged players to get them tested by an accredited laboratory first. Dvorak said: "There are hundreds of products available on the market which don't declare all the substances which are in the product.

"This is a big pitfall and we can not do anything about that. All we can do is warn players not to use anything which does not declare fully what is in it on the packet."

Defending champions France give their players food supplements but have all the products sent away for tests first.

The Portuguese, who dismissed midfielder Daniel Kenedy from their World Cup squad after he tested positive for the banned diuretic furosenide, do not use anything which doesn't declare all the ingredients.

At the last World Cup there was a row between a number of big clubs and former England manager Glenn Hoddle after he urged his players to use stamina-enhancing protein supplement creatine.

"If anyone takes something and then provides a positive test it's very difficult to explain," said Dvorak. "The player has to be responsible for what he takes."

There was a huge storm in Holland last year after Jaap Stam, Frank De Boer and Edgar Davids all tested positive for nandrolone and were banned. They denied they knowingly cheated and claimed they had been given supplements by the Dutch national team doctor.

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