Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reaffirmed his demand to introduce blood testing into football and argues that any player who fails a doping test should have their contract terminated immediately.
Wenger has previously complained that his side have played against many teams that used performance enhancing drugs and in a recent interview with Bein Sport, the Frenchman argued that the current urine tests that are carried out are insufficient in catching those players that have used drugs.
I’m not satisfied with the level of testing because I believe blood tests should be done. If you want to go into a bit more sophistication you have to do blood checks. Urine checks are superficial and not deep enough to say absolutely sure that we have no doping problem in football.
I think no [we don’t have a problem] and I wish no but on the other hand, can you have 740 football players at a World Cup and come out with zero alert on any doping? It’s a little bit surprising. I hope it is true but I think to be completely sure about it, you want to go into deeper tests.
When asked what more could be done to deter players from using performance-enhancing drugs, Wenger responded by suggesting that any player found to have used the drugs should have their contract terminated straight away because they have not just let themselves down, but their clubs as well.
Look, you have to come to the facts. There are two reasons why a player is doped. First, on personal initiative. That means he hides to his club that he doped because he’s scared to lose his place, because he wants to impress, because he has an individual or personal reason to enhance his performance. Or it is organised by the club to dope some players and enhance the performances because they are not ready or not good enough or because they have a special competition.
In most cases, I think, you have to make the player feel responsible for the club as well. That means, he cannot be only punished if he’s guilty of having doped because it’s too difficult to prove that it’s a club initiative or a personal initiative so the clubs have to be responsible for the doping of the players individually as well and tell them before the season starts, ‘look, for any doping control, your contract is completely finished because the club suffers the consequences.’
Arsenal suffered a shock loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League earlier this season and it emerged afterwards that one of their players had failed a drugs test after the game. Now, Wenger has questioned whether the rules laid out by UEFA are strict enough.
For example, now you have three doping tests after the game. If one of the players is doped, the result of the game is not changed. You need two to be doped to have a result of the game changed but if you test only three, it is nearly impossible that you catch a second one.
Out of 18, it means you test as well the players who have not played, so you can say there is something in there that is not completely logical and maybe we have to do more. I hope it is not a deep problem and I don’t think it is one. I don’t think in England, in the Premier League, I don’t see any signs of doping at all.
Uefa’s handling of the situation is according to the rules. I’m not unhappy with the handling of the situation by Uefa. I am more questioning the rules that exist and are maybe not good enough.
Arsene Wenger’s side have a slim chance of progressing from their UEFA Champions League group, so long as they win their last two games by a large enough margin.
