Buzzin Championship Football

Sheffield United goalie Paddy Kenny has been banned from football for nine months after the player admitted to the drugs charge brought against him by the Football Association.

Kenny was originally suspended by Sheffield United after a urine sample he had given after the Championship play off game against Preston in May proved positive for the banned substance Ephedrine.

Ephedrine is considered to be a performance enhancing drug, but is found in many over the counter cold and flu medicines. Following a bout of flu Kenny had taken the non prescription medications bought over the counter from a pharmacy.

The FA appear to have gone over the top with this one, Kenny has admitted his ‘guilt’ but it is doubtful that anyone in their right mind would consider that the player deliberately took the cold medicine to enhance his performance.

A rather pedantic statement was issued from the Regulatory Commission after the hearing that reads like a headmaster chastising his pupils:

“Whilst we found that the player satisfied us on the balance of probabilities that the substance was not taken with the intention of enhancing sporting performance, his admitted conduct displayed significant fault.

A professional sportsman, including a football player, has a strict responsibility to ensure prohibited substances do not enter his/her body.

In this instance Mr Kenny knowingly ingested an over-the-counter medicine above the prescribed dosage without reading the accompanying package or leaflet and without reference to his club’s doctor or other medical staff.

It is incumbent upon all professional footballers to understand the perils and dangers of so doing and to act in the way he did, contrary to the Doping Control Programme delivered by The FA and in any event what should be a matter of common sense for a professional sportsman, showed in our judgment a complete disregard for those responsibilities.”

The dinosaurs on the Regulatory Commission have also stated that Kenny will be the subject of ‘target testing’ for the next two years. While we have to applaud the drug testing programme for highlighting the misdemeanours of our sports stars, I do believe that this episode is designed simply to make Kenny a scapegoat. It really is football gone mad in my opinion.

Sheffield United are checking out their legal options before making an appeal against the sentence.