16 year old registered to EPL club banned for growth hormone possession

Bristol_bnose3

Well-Known Member
He's 16 now, but was only 15 when he got busted. Would love to know if this is a case of a 15 year old taking a decision for themselves, or whether they got a wee bit of help from their employer.

Absolutely no doubt in my mind that doping is a significant factor in Elite football these days (spare me jokes about coffee).

 
I have always thought part of the remit of sports scientists has been to stay one step ahead of PED legislation. I may well be completely wrong in that assumption but I doubt it.
 
Is that not the treatment Messi got?
Difference would be Messi actually needed it to be reasonable height, he’s still small though.

Where as this lad could have been using it to just to make himself physically better, ergo gain an unfair advantage.

Messi needed it to be on a level playing field.

Suppose we won’t know until someone talks :))
 
Difference would be Messi actually needed it to be reasonable height, he’s still small though.

Where as this lad could have been using it to just to make himself physically better, ergo gain an unfair advantage.

Messi needed it to be on a level playing field.

Suppose we won’t know until someone talks :))
Benefit of the doubt with Messi for me, as they'd know at 13 he was special and just tailored a routine physically and nutritionally to give him the best chance. Morally it's probably not on but doesn't strike you as being anything illegal, just be a case of us looking at Kai Kennedy and saying send him up to my Grans for a month and she'll fatten him up!
 
Retrospectively ban Messi, take all his individual honours and Barcelona’s team honours away.
 
Benefit of the doubt with Messi for me, as they'd know at 13 he was special and just tailored a routine physically and nutritionally to give him the best chance. Morally it's probably not on but doesn't strike you as being anything illegal, just be a case of us looking at Kai Kennedy and saying send him up to my Grans for a month and she'll fatten him up!
Yeah Messi was diagnosed with Dwarfism at 10 (can’t remember the official term) so Newells started giving him treatment.

Messi is still only 5’7 or 5’8 I’m sure, hardly a giant. I can’t imagine a world of football without him to be honest :))

I wonder though, if these days they would be allowed to give him the treatment. I’d like to think so because he was born with an actual issue rather than trying to gain an advantage!.
 
Benefit of the doubt with Messi for me, as they'd know at 13 he was special and just tailored a routine physically and nutritionally to give him the best chance. Morally it's probably not on but doesn't strike you as being anything illegal, just be a case of us looking at Kai Kennedy and saying send him up to my Grans for a month and she'll fatten him up!

He was officially diagnosed as having a growth hormone deficiency though, that would have seen him struggle to make 5’0” (according to his doctors), he was given the treatment to bring his hormone levels to that of an ordinary boy. What real reason is there to doubt that’s true?

He’s not exactly the player he is because of insane pace and brute strength is he? If they were to cheat then wouldn’t they also cheat with the other la masia stars who came through at that time? None of their gems were physically imposing, they were all about heightened technical ability. If it was a team full of Ronaldo’s and Gareth Bale’s I could understand the scepticism because a large part of their game is about their superior athleticism. Not only that but the early of Messi’s career was plagued with lengthy muscle injuries, so if they were trying to enhance his physicality they must have used the wrong drug.
 
Interesting that we hear this about a youth player but to this point, outwith only a couple of examples over the years don't hear a word about it with senior professionals
 
I digress slightly but without doubt there will be a scandal exposed in football down the line for use of PEDs.

There is too much money in the game, too much at stake and too many people with their hand in things that want a slice of that success. No way is the entire game rumbling on without players being forced or otherwise to maximise their performance.
 
He was officially diagnosed as having a growth hormone deficiency though, that would have seen him struggle to make 5’0” (according to his doctors), he was given the treatment to bring his hormone levels to that of an ordinary boy. What real reason is there to doubt that’s true?

He’s not exactly the player he is because of insane pace and brute strength is he? If they were to cheat then wouldn’t they also cheat with the other la masia stars who came through at that time? None of their gems were physically imposing, they were all about heightened technical ability. If it was a team full of Ronaldo’s and Gareth Bale’s I could understand the scepticism because a large part of their game is about their superior athleticism. Not only that but the early of Messi’s career was plagued with lengthy muscle injuries, so if they were trying to enhance his physicality they must have used the wrong drug.
Ah, Agent Archer!
 
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