Sport

GAA needs clarity on drugs failure case: McGurn

HIGH-PROFILE strength and conditioning trainer Mike McGurn has urged the GAA to give "more clarity" to the case surrounding the Monaghan footballer who allegedly failed an out-of-competition drugs test in February.

McGurn, who has worked at elite level in various sports including rugby, soccer, boxing, and GAA, says the ongoing silence over the drugs controversy has "tainted" the Association.

"I think the GAA needs to come out and tell us exactly what the drugs test failure was because if the player alleged of this was injecting himself then that's hard-core stuff," said McGurn.

"If it was a protein supplement that was contaminated then that can happen to anybody. They need to come out and tell us rather than let the whole thing run and run.

"Once everyone knows the facts then we can make a decision. I very much doubt - whoever it is – was injecting himself. But, until the GAA comes out and tells everyone 'This is what was found in the player's system', it's all speculation.

"That's why this whole case has tainted the GAA. To the uneducated, they might think this player has been found with a needle, whereas I don't think that is the case. I would imagine it's a contaminated substance."

The player alleged to have failed a drugs test was "a trial panellist" with the Monaghan senior team at the beginning of the year but is no longer part of the set-up.

In a statement released last week, the Gaelic Players Association [GPA] confirmed the story. The statement read: "The GPA is currently advising a GAA player who has had an adverse finding as a result of an out-of-competition drug test in February of this year.

"As the process before the GAA Anti-Doping Hearings Committee is ongoing, the GPA will be making no further comment on the matter until the Hearings Committee has concluded its deliberations."

Despite this drugs case having the capacity to "taint" the GAA, McGurn firmly believes that drug-taking is "just not in the DNA of Gaelic Games".

"The only benefit for a GAA player from taking steroids is to aid recovery. They don't need the body-building, the hard-core performance-enhancing drugs for their performance…"

McGurn, who is currently helping prepare the Antrim senior footballers for their Ulster Championship clash with his native Fermanagh on May 31, insists that all the responsibility lies with the players in terms of their food and liquid intake.

"When you're playing at a level where the Irish Sports Council is involved, every player has a responsibility for what they take – liquids and food. You need to know exactly what's in it.

"The player is solely responsible. Nobody else. Not the trainer. Not who sold it to you. The player pays the price. A lot of the doctors involved at this level are very switched on. They would be very much involved at the start of the year in telling players what is ok and what is not ok."

Undoubtedly, this case has struck fear into many GAA players. In a recent interview after the Monaghan player failed a drugs test, Tipperary hurler Brendan Maher said: "You would nearly be conscious of taking a Lemsip the way things have gone."

In his Sunday Independent column, former Meath player Colm O'Rourke said: "There should be no testing away from training or games but it is a subject where there is no debate: blood-testing is best for everyone and if there are players messing around with illegal substances, they deserve what they get."