Arsene Wenger this week outlined his concerns that doping is a big problem in football and has largely gone undetected, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Reports emerged this week from the World Anti-Doping Agency that Russia had been running a “state-sponsored” doping programme, but the commission’s chairman, Dick Pound, hinted that there is likely to still be a lot that hasn’t come to the surface yet (via Telegraph).
Wenger already believes that his side were unfairly beaten by a “doped opponent” this season, following news that Dynamo Zagreb’s Arijan Ademi failed a doping test shortly after they beat Arsenal in the Champions League.
UEFA are still investigating Ademi’s sample, and are set to come to a conclusion on November 19, but Wenger believes there are some serious issues spread wide throughout football.
“I try to be faithful to the values that I believe to be important in life and to pass them on to others. In 30 years as a manager, I’ve never had my players injected to make them better. I never gave them any product that would help enhance their performance. I’m proud of that. I’ve played against many teams that weren’t in that frame of mind,” he said in an interview with L’Equipe.
“For me, the beauty of sport is that everyone wants to win, but there will only be one winner. We have reached an era in which we glorify the winner, without looking at the means or the method. And, 10 years later we realise the guy was a cheat. And during that time, the one that came second suffered. He didn’t get recognition. And, with all that’s been said about them, they can be very unhappy.”
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