New seminars on drug testing

The GAA is to organise a new series of seminars next month to address the continuing concerns over drug testing. The Irish Sports Council's anti-doping programme has become one of the most contentious issues within the GAA in many years since becoming a regular feature at championship matches this season.

Though the dates and venues of the seminars have yet to be confirmed, they are planned for the third week in June, with a separate seminar for each of the four provinces. Similar seminars were organised in the past few months but on each occasion were poorly attended.

Galway-based pharmacist Brendan Quinn will be partly presenting the seminars and yesterday he urged relevant parties to attend, especially the players' representatives. Some 300 invitations were sent out for the last seminar in Croke Park a month ago, in which Quinn was involved, and about 30 people showed up.

"In the past these seminars were aimed mostly at team managers but I would urge everyone affected by the dope testing to attend," said Quinn. "There is still a problem with the level of information out there, and who players can turn to for questions they might have on the drug testing.

"I do have a lot of sympathy with the players and managers and the concerns they have been expressing. And there is definitely a lack of information about prescription medicines. But you don't want a situation where players see so much risk that they take nothing, because that's not good for the health either."

Quinn is also involved with an anti-doping website (sports-drugs.com) which, similar to the ISC-endorsed eirpharm.com, is dedicated to informing Irish athletes and players as to what licensed drugs and medicines they can and cannot take to avoid a positive drugs test.

From next week the website will have a database that will allow players to check the status of medicines from the UK and Ireland, particularly useful for players who have genuine ailments and are unsure as to what products they can and cannot take.

"There are a lot of situations where it is totally justifiable for players to take medicines that would be on the banned list," added Quinn, "especially in situations like hay fever and asthma. Right now though there is very little information out there on those prescribed medicines."

Last week Quinn attended an anti-doping seminar at Old Trafford, which included a presentation by Manchester United doctor Michael Stone. Among the main issues raised was the problem with sports supplements, including drinks, which can also carry the risk of an inadvertent positive drugs test.

"It's clear now that any team that uses supplements has to get them checked in order to be sure of their contents. A lot of popular supplements have now been shown to contain substances not included on the label, but would lead to a positive test," said Quinn.

The GAA's anti-doping handbook warns against the use of dietary supplements, stating that many of them do contain banned substances.