Fifteen Premier League players failed drug tests between 2015 and 2020 and faced no ban of any kind. The number could be higher, too.
Of the 15, 12 returned positive results for banned performance-enhancing substances, and one of the cases is still being investigated without any sanctions having been handed down.
British football’s drug problem
The Mail on Sunday have reported the figures, and they also note that as many as 88 footballers in Britain failed doping tests between 2013 and 2020.
The cases that showed use of performance-enhancing drugs included a positive for amphetamine and three for triamcinolone, the substance Bradley Wiggins used to treat hayfever before his Tour de France victory.
Ritalin and testosterone booster Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) were found in the Premier League cases, the latter a hormone often abused in cycling and MMA, the Mail report.
The UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) explained that no sanctions were handed down due to accidental ingestion or the player having a Therapeutic Use Exemption.
Other positives, though not necessarily from the tested Premier League players, showed use of morphine, cannabis and cocaine, among other banned substances.
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