A BIZARRE

row is brewing between Premier League clubs and the Football Association over anti-doping lectures. Currently, the FA visit a number of clubs in pre-season to deliver a lecture on a number of integrity issues, including gambling and drug testing. The visit is not mandatory, and some top-flight clubs bring in external experts to speak to players about the dangers of drugs, and the rules and regulations surrounding drug use in sport. But, at a recent meeting, officials from Premier League clubs were asked if they would follow the English Football League by making the FA’s lecture, and attendance of it, compulsory. Sources say the response was ‘lukewarm’, with officials pointing out that if the FA — who say no formal request was lodged — wished to make their own sessions compulsory they should do so themselves.