Anti Steroids in Professional Sports

Introduction

Not only does drug use remain a feature of sport and sporting clubs, but research has shown that young people who play competitive sport may actually engage in more drug and alcohol use than those who play little organized sport. There is also evidence that substance use is correlated to engagement in other high-risk consumption behaviors. Studies of athletes in the United States found that those involved in athletics engaged in more risky behaviors than nonathletic, and had a special preference for binge-drinking. Moreover, the focus in sport on team bonding on the one hand, and intensive competition on the other, appears to make it fertile ground for the growth of drug use and abuse .The rules of fair play do not seem fundamental and doping is ultimately only a means of enhancing performance and thus improving the spectator value' of the sport." In other words there seems to be something about sport and the way it is played out that makes it susceptible to various types of drug use (Wilde, 41).

The views of players and athletes about substance use in sport are ambiguous and convoluted, and as a result it is unclear as to (1) how player and athlete attitudes to drugs in sport are formulated, (2) what factors have influenced those attitudes over their formative years, and (3) the contextual and cultural factors that may have shaped those attitudes during their playing career. The purpose of this research is to assess athletes' attitudes to substances used in sport and to explore the contextual variables that have influenced attitude formulation. An improved understanding of the contextual pressures and factors that influence athletes' and players' attitudes to drugs in sport will be pivotal to understanding how drug policy interventions may modify players' propensities to take drugs. The dangers of drug use in sport are well rehearsed if substantiated only by a handful of studies focusing on extreme behavior. However, there remains an absence of reliable evidence documenting the adverse effects of many performance-enhancing drugs as well as reliable data about the prevalence of their use in sport. In a sporting world where alcohol is likely to be the most serious problem, the media and governing bodies are more interested in steroids and EPO.

Discussion

Ethics and sport

Sport means a psycho-somatic balance, it means consciousness, freedom, equality among persons; sport is the messenger of peace and brotherhood between people and continents. Its educational dimension occurred since Ancient times. Being understood as an educational process where fair-play prevails, sport has become a long time the “laboratory” of the new social ethics. Sport brings people closer to other people, contributing to peace and understanding between individuals - as stated in the Olympic Charter. Moreover, through its specific organizations, structures and rules, sport is meant to serve noble objectives. What happens in sports today, in fact? Does sport respect its mission, keeping its ethic principles intact? Nowadays, sport is considered a system of activities that move and develop inside the ...