Can The IMC Tackle Illicit Drugs Problem In The NPFL?

Akinkunle Bolarinwa

Over the years it has been alleged that most football players playing in both Nigeria's professional and amateur leagues have been spicing their systems with illicit drugs despite the world football governing body FIFA's plan to stamp out this bad behaviour within the world football league system.

Austin Oladapo was caught with prednisolone within his urine sample. He didn't even know what prednisolone was, or that it was a banned drug.

Suffice to say he didn't know at all what he was given, either by Enyimba staff or on the streets of Aba without due oversight by the Enyimba medical staff. Nigerians are reactionary to doping matters and it is the structures that aren't here and we still do not care. There are only 1 or 2 anti doping laboratories in the whole of Africa.

The Nigerian anti doping organisation was enacted by Buhari last year. It has good people like Prof Anugweje as Chairman & Femi Ayorinde inside.

The Nigerian AntiDoping Organization is expected to be an independent organisation like the EFCC *without ANY* government involvement like the *AIU* of athletics and NFF of football as it has become free for all to participate in the use of banned substances without anybody policing them.

This is a wake up call on the Chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Nigeria Professional Football League, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye

to critically look into this direction and put an end to this menace.

The awareness and sensitization is poor and what the league operators want to do is just organise the league and cash out without putting into consideration health and good values.

Footballers play with drugs and stimulants in Nigeria and can't get it abroad so their football capacity collapses when they go on trials or play professionally.

That's why most of our players cannot get into proper leagues abroad.

When we should put precautions in place and deterrent processes to ensure that any athlete in any sports that is found doping at any level, even at amateur sports, should be caught and banned, we do nothing.

Look at our footballers. They take all manners of stimulants to play football,

Several.

From Tramadol to things as serious as heroin, marijuana or even crack and cocaine and once they left the Nigerian league, they failed. Why?. The best person to ask is Fadeke Fadeyibi who heads Antidoping in Nigeria as a Civil Servant.

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