Onus is on GAA to lead the way in protecting its own
DR Una May, the head of Ireland’s anti-doping system, speaks openly and honestly in the Irish
Mail on Sunday today, and tells us that she would welcome the GAA dipping into its own finances, like the IRFU does, and dramatically increasing the amount of drug testing of Gaelic footballers and hurlers.
While stressing that Gaelic games are not considered ‘highrisk sports’ by the anti-doping system, Dr May wishes for nothing to be left to chance and has warned everyone involved in the GAA, and other sports, that the culture of steroid use in gymnasiums is now a ‘huge problem’.
‘I do believe society has exposed everyone in this country to risks, and the use of steroids in the gyms in this country is becoming a huge problem,’ Dr May stressed in an exclusive interview with our Chief Sports Features Writer Shane McGrath.
‘There are more steroids coming into the country now than some of the traditional street drugs.
‘The risk of an athlete getting caught up in the middle of that culture is getting higher and higher and higher. The fact that GAA players are more and more starting to focus on strength and conditioning, they’re going into the gyms more, they are going to be exposed to those risks and I have no doubt there will be players out there who could be taking something, not because the sport has a culture of it but because of the environment.’
Dr May is not someone who should be second-guessed. And as we all know, with the GAA now grossing over €100 million in annual revenues, there is no shortage of cash in the association’s coffers to see to it that the GAA leads the way in protecting its own.