No to Doping

Greetings!

Immediately after the game between Nigeria and Cameroon in the last AFCON tournament held earlier this year in Ivory Coast, some Nigerian players were selected for drug testing by CAF governing bodies because their performance in the match was outstanding and somehow questionable.
They were tested and none of them were found guilty.

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When the news about their selection for drug testing came out, many people began to criticize the CAF management, which I disagreed with as a sports person because drug use in sports is very common and it's not good because it's totally cheating. The sports bodies know about this, and I love how they take the issue very seriously.

Is it not cheating?

It is totally cheating, and there's no two ways about it. Using drugs to enhance sports performance is like a situation where a 7-year-old boy with small feet is to run a 100m race with Usain Bolt. You see the big difference? There is no way you would expect the 7-year-old boy to come out first in such a competition. Sporting activities are meant to be based on natural strength except for wrestling, where they are allowed and boastful of taking drugs to toughen their bodies against such blows.

Although there are shallow restrictions on many of these drugs, they are not fully restricted because most of them serve good functions in the medical field when used effectively. But for the sake of sporting activities, let them be forever banned. Let the drugs be used by people that are only permitted, like in the hand of the medics.

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I have seen people talk down on the restriction of these drugs by athletes, saying that these drugs are just enhancers to one's efforts and it doesn't mean that these athletes are being powered totally by these drugs. It's part of their effort. Some also say that they should let it be open for everyone to use, and if athletes don't want to use them, it's up to them, and they shouldn't complain. In a nutshell, they want athletes to be free to use drugs like wrestlers.

Well, the fun of sport is to see the best of humans and to see winners & failures too. Imagine a situation where a football team took the same type of drugs that enhance penalty shootouts. Are you ready to watch a non-failing penalty shootout for a month? I mean, a situation where all of them keep scoring without mistakes, and there must be a winner; otherwise, there won't be an end to the game. I know you’re imagining that right now.

What about a situation where an athlete falls down and dies on the pitch due to a bad reaction to the medicine on his body? Mind you, this is the same type of drug taken by others. We have different body systems, and what sounds enhancing to athlete A might not work out for athlete B.

Say no to drugs!

Thanks for reading.