• LaLiga.Free football in the residences

In recent weeks, a few memes have circulated in some Primera clubs where one of the LaLiga stars was mutated in the Incredible Hulk . His team jersey was busting from overdeveloped greenish musculature. Black humor that played with the stop of the anti-doping controls during the confinement. His suspension was not officially announced, to avoid open bar, but movement restrictions and the closure of sports laboratories across Europe helped to think that the search for doping substances was not the priority of the authorities.

With more or less joke, the striking absence of controls caused by the coronavirus crisis has been commented on in all the teams. Illegal aid is not supposed to exist and nobody from football denounces it, but -according to general consensus- it is better that they be monitored. Just in case. Everyone is calmer when they know that any trap can be detected, especially now that the championship is heading to this strange final sprint , with so much at stake. Last Monday, attention sports union, reopened the national anti-doping laboratory. And beware, footballers, UEFA will also start sending its inspectors .

"They may appear next week again." This is confirmed to this newspaper by several teams, warned that the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Sports Health (AEPSAD) will resume their surprise visits immediately. Surprise, yes, nuanced by this previous announcement. Before the players can be tested for illegal substance use, all the clubs have received a communication explaining the new protocol that the controls must follow from now on because of the pandemic. Gels, safety distances, minimal presence of companions, waiting rooms and adequate urinals ...

New controls

"Everything will be more expensive, due to the protection materials and the difficulty of movement, but we will continue along the same lines as before the coronavirus," recalls José Luis Terreros, the director of AEPSAD . A plan shows what the installation should be like where the samples are taken, both in the training places and in the stadiums. Because football returns with everything, also with the unexpected visits of vampires, the nickname of the technicians of the anti-doping agencies (whether international or national) that appear, in theory, when they least expect them. The controls will return next week, when the coaches will be able to lead their entire teams again, forgetting the group sessions. Later, in League matches, the anti-doping routine will continue, although adapted to the new reality.

“The protocols have been modified in order to ensure that under no circumstances will the health of the athlete or the personnel taking the sample be put at risk, health must prevail above all. AEPSAD will implement measures and regulations that all athletes who are notified to pass a control must follow, "says the official statement, recalling that the agents who will carry out the extractions have been instructed to avoid infections and that they themselves They are "healthy people who have not had contact with anyone who has the virus in the last 20 days."

In addition to presenting its technicians clean of the virus - they must carry a letter of guarantees - the agency highlights that they will be equipped with protective material (glasses, masks, gloves) and that they will also require the athlete to wear their mask during the process. If you did not have one, you would be provided one in the sampling room. Upon completion, you will be offered a sanitizing solution to rub your hands "for at least 30 seconds . " Even that level of detail is specified in a document stamped by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and to which this newspaper has had access. However, a section of the letter has drawn the attention of the club doctors.

A controversial exception

Slit that can invite the picaresque? A way out of cheats? The player chosen to pass the anti-doping will have to answer "with full sincerity and conscience" before a questionnaire that will allow the agent to decide if the control is threatened with contagion or if its performance may put the health of a third party at risk. . And "based on this you can decide to cancel it." That is, the footballer who shows doubts about his viral status could get rid of the anti-doping test .

Even so, AEPSAD warns that these suspensions would be thoroughly reviewed. It won't be enough for him to say he has a cough. That person will be followed up and will be checked again days later, "says Terreros, fearful that someone has taken advantage of the hiatus. «I do not trust that 100% of the athletes have behaved well. Although, with no competition calendar in sight, doping does not make much sense, "reflects the director of the Spanish agency. Only soccer and the ACB have a more or less clear agenda.

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports
  • Doping
  • First division
  • Champions League

LaLiga Santander 2019 - 2020Florentino, visiting with gloves and mask: "'Presi', when do we start playing the League?" Asks Zidane

LaLigaTechnology against empty stands: augmented reality, robots, chants from home with your mobile ...

LaLiga Santander 2019 - 2020The challenge of clubs in phase 1 of football: "How do we train as a group without contact?"