The preventive consumption of painkillers is too frequent a practice among footballers. The International Federation denounces these drug abuses which win over young players.
Before a football match, Zidane always put on his right sock first, then his left sock. A very personal ritual. For other champions, it’s always a pain reliever! As Euro 2012 starts this weekend, the doctor from the International Football Federation threw a stone in the pond. Dr Jiri Dvorak denounces the abuse of painkillers among professional players. If he gives a yellow card in this way, it is because the figures are final.
The Federation conducted the survey during the last World Cup: 60% of players have used painkillers at least once. But even more serious phenomenon, 39% took an analgesic before each meeting.
Already, during the two previous World Cups, FIFA had carried out a study on the 72 hours preceding the matches. Anti-inflammatory drugs came first among the drugs consumed. In Italy, 86% of players reportedly use it regularly. The boss of the FIFA medial commission kept repeating that “on the medical level, the big problem in football is the abuse of anti-inflammatory drugs”. In other words, more serious than doping …
In view of the latest figures published in the “British journal of sports medicine, the most addicted to painkillers would be the teams coming from the American continent. In Europe, the drift would therefore be less important.
Dr Alain Simon, former doctor of the French football team: “Taking analgesics for prevention was exceptional in my team”.
However, some French sports doctors do not hide their concern. This is the case of Bruno Sesbouë, sports doctor at the Caen University Hospital. This president of the national association for the prevention of doping is not really surprised by the figures of FIFA. For him, taking painkillers before a match, to prevent possible pain, is first of all “absurd”. “It’s like having a plaster cast for fear of breaking your arm,” he explains! Also, I think it is totally ineffective because the peak of the drug level will not necessarily coincide with when there will eventually be pain. “
In addition, it has now been shown that pain is not necessarily of inflammatory origin. In the face of chronic tendinopathy, NSAIDs, for example, are ineffective in 60% of cases. Absurd, ineffective, this practice can also prove to be dangerous in the long term.
Bruno Sesbouë, sports doctor at Caen University Hospital: “Painkillers take away the pain which is a very important red flag. “
The other danger comes from anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs can indeed cause digestive bleeding. However, “painkillers are not poisons, would like to point out Dr. Sesbouë. You just have to take it when you need it. “
Bruno Sesbouë, “To take it systematically before each match is comparable to a doping practice”.
The pressure of competition is obviously at the origin of this excessive consumption of drugs. Ellei is practiced on the players but not only. Fifa’s Dr Dvorak acknowledges medics are also feeling pressure to get players back on their feet quickly.
And even young players would give in to temptation. The Fifa survey shows that almost 20% of under-17s also abuse painkillers. “In any case, from the moment a practice spreads to the highest level, it comes down almost systematically, warns Dr. Sebouë. And besides, this is where disasters occur because the players are not going to derive real benefits from this consumption and the medical supervision is less close. “
Euro 2012 is definitely starting with a bang. Another controversy is agitating the world of players and supporters. The jerseys that teams will wear for a month are said to contain toxic chemicals. Business to follow?
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