In his infamous L’Equipe interview, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger directly claimed that he is aware of some of his rival teams are using dopes to enhance their players’ performances.
FA has asked Wenger to clarify his comments over doping.
This week Wenger told L’Equipe that he “never injected my players to make them better” and there are teams he faced not “in that frame of mind”.
He was speaking in the context of a Dinamo Zagreb player failing a drug test, after the side won 2-1 over Arsenal. Zagreb Midfielder Arijan Ademi tested positive after playing for Dinamo in their 2-1 win over Gunners in Zagreb.
Wenger previously said on dopes, “There are clubs who dope their players without the players knowing. The club might say that they were being injected with vitamins and the player would not necessarily know that it was something different.”
He also added, ”our game is full of drug-fuelled legends.”
On doping issue, Wenger added:
“I try to be faithful to the values that I find important in life and to transmit them to others,” the Frenchman said.
“In 30 years of my coaching career, I never got one of my players injected to be more efficient.”
The FA has released a statement, as they want Wenger to clarify his understanding about teams who use dopes.
“The FA, in conjunction with United Kingdom Anti-Doping (Ukad), operates one of the most comprehensive anti-doping testing programmes in the world.
“We have exceptionally few cases of positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, which reflects the findings from drug-testing in football worldwide.
“All positive cases for Wada-prohibited substances are published by Ukad and the FA” , concluded FA .
FA spokesperson has said:
“The FA, in conjunction with UKAD, operates one of the most comprehensive anti-doping testing programmes in the world.”
“We have exceptionally few cases of positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, which reflects the findings from drug testing in football worldwide. All positive cases for Wada-prohibited substances are published by UKAD and the FA.
“We conduct both urine and blood drug testing both in and out of competition on a no-notice basis including at players’ homes. We share all relevant information with UKAD, Fifa and Uefa and are committed to ensuring the integrity of English football is maintained.
“The FA have been steroid profiling all urine samples taken from every player tested in the Football League and Premier League since January 2014, having been steroid-profiling all Premier League players in previous seasons. All samples are reviewed by UKAD.
“In addition to urine-steroid profiling, the FA have been running a blood-profiling programme in the Premier League since the 2012-13 season. Every blood-profiling sample is analysed by UKAD and target testing is undertaken on any unusual results. As with urine-testing, there have been exceptionally few unusual results in English football and none which have so far suggested a doping issue.”