LONDON (AP) — The player unions representing footballers and cricketers in England have called for recreational drugs to be removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.
Rather than punishing athletes who test positive for cocaine and marijuana during in-competition testing, they believe the focus should be on rehabilitation.
John Bramhall, the Professional Footballers’ Association deputy chief executive, says “we have to make sure that a guy struggling with a problem can step forward and receive help … without the possibility of being suspended or — even worse than that — losing his contract.”
Ian Smith, the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s legal director, says recreational drugs aren’t “a big issue with cheating in sport.”
