DRUGS IN RUGBY

Sir, The revelations about possible drug-taking by a leading England rugby
football player (reports, May 24 and 25; leading article, May 24) are an
indication as to how widespread the use of illegal substances, both
so-called recreational and performance-enhancing, has become within the game.

The Rugby Football Union has, in my view, been less than vigilant in
tackling this problem. There has been no significant action from
headquarters at Twickenham to gain a measure of the problem or to put in
place testing of players, not just at the professional level, but where it
is equally important, at junior club level.

That there is a problem is widely known within the sport. There have been
instances of people on the pitch being attacked by players who are still
under the influence of the previous night's drug-taking sessions, and the
rapid change in stature of many players who have taken performanceenhancing
substances has been widely noticed and commented on. It is time the RFU and
the county unions developed a policy to tackle the problem right down to the
grass roots.

Yours sincerely,
Jeffrey Knight, President, Coalville Rugby Football Club
The Meadows, 25 Meadow Lane, Coalville, Leicester LE67 4DN.

UK: Editorial: Crying Foul
Pubdate: Mon, 24 May 1999
Source: Times, The (UK)
Section: Opinion
Copyright: 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/

CRYING FOUL

Another Sports Celebrity Teeters On The Moral Pedestal

Once again, supporters of clean-cut rugby union are facing up to the
possibility that the leading representative of their sport may have feet of
clay. Four years after Will Carling was dismissed as England captain for
calling the committee of the Rugby Football Union "old farts", the current
captain, Lawrence Dallaglio, is being urgently investigated by rugby
authorities on suspicion of drug offences. Dallaglio was quoted in the News
of the World as saying he had not only taken cocaine and Ecstasy after the
British Isles' 2-1 series victory in
South Africa in 1997, but also "made big money from dealing in drugs" during
his late teens.

The revelation arose from a flirtatious hotel-room conversation with a woman
working as an undercover reporter, posing as an executive from a company
interested in sponsoring Dallaglio. Publication has provoked shocked
disclaimers from the 26-year-old rugby star's friends and family (though not
from Dallaglio himself who, with
his family, is out of town and out of contact). His mother claims that the
story is a tissue of lies. Colleagues emphasise that Dallaglio is
level-headed, mature and deeply committed to his sport. But most accept the
likelihood that the confession, even if made lightly and boastfully, is
nevertheless true.

Until the investigation is completed, the rugby world is shying away from
judgments about Dallaglio's future as England captain. But many admit that a
self-confessed drug dealer would have credibility problems continuing as the
star turn of a sport whose image is one of honest muscle and hearty, beery,
legal forms of excess. The recreational use of drugs, though illegal, is far
from unknown on the celebrity circuit; dealing in drugs for profit, however,
is a further step beyond the pale and universally abhorred.

Paul Boateng, the Home Office Minister of State, spoke for many when he said
that responsible sporting authorities should take very seriously the evil
of drugs and the importance of positive role models. The notion that
Dallaglio had made money from drugs, even a decade ago, would, if proved, be
sure to damage beyond repair his status as a role model.

If these allegations prove to be true, Dallaglio may soon discover the
weighty responsibilities that go with being a sporting celebrity. Loss of
respect and popularity is the inevitable consequence not only of dabbling in
criminal behaviour, but even of failing to recognise the moral demands of
high-visibility stardom. Scandal still attaches to Will Carling, partly as a
result of his close friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales, and the
subsequent break-up of his marriage, and partly because of public criticism
when he later left Ali Cockayne, the mother of his baby son Henry, for
another woman. Even a momentary teeter on the moral pedestal can result in
the captain of an English side losing all he has competed for.