PREMIER LEAGUE stars have not been drug tested for THREE MONTHS.
But anti-doping officers are set to massively ramp up testing next week ahead of the restart.
Premier League stars have not been drug tested for three months
Although clubs resumed training weeks ago, testers have not been seen at any training grounds for spot checks to track either performance-enhancing or recreational drugs.
Instead, all focus at grounds has been on tests for Covid-19.
Potentially, during the lockdown, some players could have used recreational drugs and not been tested.
Even though this time was effectively out of competition, that would still have been breaking rules.
Next week, UK Anti-Doping are set to give an update of their drug-testing procedures in the Premier League, along with the Championship and clubs in the League One and League Two play-offs.
The last match before the league was suspended — where drug testers were present — was Leicester’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 9.
When the football was stopped, the anti-doping tests on players were scaled down — though not officially called off.
Footballers still had to give their locations, particularly if they went home to another country.
And if given a specific tip-off, testers were still ready and willing to head to any sportsperson’s home while wearing PPE.
But for obvious reasons, the random tests stopped.
And even though some players have been back in training for over a month, the testing has yet to resume as normal — although this will now change.
One source told SunSport: “We thought we would have seen some testers turn up at training recently but not yet.”
After the football was suspended, UK Anti-Doping chief Nicole Sapstead said: “We are acutely aware of the effect that the Covid-19 virus is having on society, sport and the wider sporting community, both here in the UK and globally.
“With the cancellation of sporting events and recent UK Government advice concerning the control of the virus, we have reviewed our operational activity and are announcing a significant reduction in our testing programme.
“This is a difficult decision and one that has not been taken lightly.
“Our priority is the health and welfare of athletes, and our own staff and doping control officers.
“As an organisation, our ongoing responsibility remains to protect clean sport, but we must give precedence to health and welfare and act responsibly in line with government advice during this unprecedented time.
“We will continue to process intelligence and will act on that information.
“If anyone has information that could be of interest to UKAD and its investigations on any matter, please do contact us as usual.”
Manchester United return to training as they prepare for their return to the Premier League
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
