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'I've never seen a player with an illegal substance'

Yesterday news broke that an unnamed Monaghan footballer had failed an out-of-competition drug te...



'I've never seen a pla...
Football

'I've never seen a player with an illegal substance'

Yesterday news broke that an unnamed Monaghan footballer had failed an out-of-competition drug test.

The exact details of that particular case are not fully clear.

Tonight on Off The Ball we spoke to Dublin University City GAA manager Professor Niall Moyna about the culture around these issues in the game and he believes that the level of scrutiny that inter-county players are now being put under is too much, given their amateur status.

He said: "We're dealing with an amateur organisation and we have to take a common sense approach. You can't apply the same principles to someone playing in an amateur organisation to someone making €100,000 or €250,000 a week playing for Real Madrid.

'I've never seen a player with an illegal substance'

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"To hold them to the same standards as a professional player, that's the issue I would have. I think the testing is great, it's fantastic, but I don't think you can have the same approach to every single individual. An amateur player has to be treated differently."

Moyna also does not think there is a culture of cheating among GAA players and added that he had "never seen a player with an illegal substance, ever".

"I don't it's part of our culture. Does that mean there isn't one or two individuals that may bend the rules? Of course there is," he added, saying that inter-county players now have a greater level of awareness about nutrition and correct conditioning.

Moyna also explained why he would advocate lifetime bans and prosecution for any players who have knowingly taken banned substances.

 

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