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To be cynical, Jaap Stam should have not had the chance to retire as he tested positive for drug use. Ok, many will say everyone deserves a second chance, but any athlete who resorts to gaining an advantage to enhance performance, should be banned for life. I dont expect anyone to agree with my feelings on this subject, but i stand firm in my beliefs that drug users in sports should suffer the harshest of penalties, this way those who wish to repeat those offenders will think twice of commiting such crimes if they are serious about being clean in their given professions. As for Rio Ferdinand missing his drugs test, he acted so dumb with lame excuses. Even though it is not difficult for the Manchester United defender to act thick, the FA saw right through him and gave him the just and appropriate ban, saying this Rio's numbness ended out as a clever move as by the time he was tested, any drugs that he may have taken would have long left his system. So are footballers really not so bright as the stigma attached would suggest, or are they more intelligent than many would believe??

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Although several players were banned for nandrolone around the same time, it is interesting to note that none of the case went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or any other kind of legal arena. One reason for this is that it is almost impossible to prove that someone was deliberately doping for nandrolone, unless the athlete's levels were unquestionably high. Nandrolone usage can be tested very basically, so it's unlikely that anyone would deliberately "build up", as you put it, with nandrolone.

I'm not certain whether the actual test levels of Stam, Davids, de Boer, or Guardiola were ever released. Assuming that their levels were not through the roof, it would have been hard to make any guilty ruling stand up in court. Remember that nandrolone is produced naturally in the body.

I was interested this week to read that Pep Guardiola was acquitted of his doping offence, also for nandralone, which happened several months after Stam's.

I don't know the exact reasons why his conviction was thrown out, but the same reasons may apply to the cases of Stam, Davids, and de Boer as well.

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Brian Elliott is a freelance journalist who has written for the Associated Press, the Canadian Press, and Sport Illustrated on the subjects of soccer and Mixed Martial Arts.

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