DRUG USE CASTS PALL OVER THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

ROBBIE Fowler's goal celebration during Saturday's Merseyside derby
has reintroduced the spectre of drugs to a sport which has tried and
failed to clean up its tarnished image.

The England and Liverpool striker was seen by millions of television
viewers putting a finger to the side of his nose and apparently
sniffing a white line after scoring from the penalty spot. Despite
apologising for his actions, Fowler has cast doubts not only on his
future but on the sport's ability to cope with the growing malaise of
drugs in football. The game has discovered that it is no more immune
to drugs than any other top-class sport.

While the Football Association in England is about to double its
testing for recreational drugs, it has chosen not to step up its
efforts to detect the use of performance-enhancing substances.

Last year the FA promised to move from 500 random drug tests to 1,000
each season. It will dedicate all the new tests to catch those who use
drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, stimulants or heroin.

The Scottish Football Association, which randomly tests footballers
throughout the league, does not believe that a similar increase in
screening is necessary. A spokesman said players are tested almost
every Saturday and the fact that only one player had tested positive
since the scheme began proved the system was efficient.

He said: "We pick on a particular fixture and test one player from
each side. We have been doing it for more than ten years and in that
time we have only had one positive result. We are content that random
testing has shown that problems in Scotland are extremely rare."

Football's governing bodies insist there is no need to extend their
vigilance in a sport where the pressures for young men to perform at
their peak intensify all the time and where those same young men stand
to earn millions of pounds every year.

Dr Geoff Scobie, a senior psychology lecturer at Glasgow University
believes the highest echelons of football provide an ideal breeding
ground for drug abuse. "Recreational drugs such as cocaine are
expensive and footballers obviously have the financial clout to buy
what they want," he said.

"Players at the top level tend to take a certain amount of risk. To be
a good athlete in any field you need to be more of a risk taker
because you are putting all your efforts into one particular area with
the single-mindedness to succeed.

"That risk-taking mentality pushes them forward to be the best but it
always makes them more vulnerable to the temptations of drugs."

Dr Scobie believes performance-enhancing drugs are an inevitable
aspect of football at every level. "There is a huge drive within
footballers to get to the top, but the problem is staying there. Once
your performance starts to decline there is a massive amount of
pressure to keep earning the top wages and enjoy all the trappings of
wealth.

"If you're faced with dropping down a division or playing in the
reserves you might not be able to accept that. The more money
involved, the greater the temptation to take a drug which can keep you
at your peak.

"We clearly need a more sophisticated system of testing. If there
isn't a drug problem in football then they shouldn't be afraid to
prove it by testing more players."

Several years of testing in Britain has uncovered only one case of a
footballer using anabolic steroids, while 26 players were found to
have a variety of recreational drugs in their bloodstreams.

Stephane Paille, the former Hearts striker, was the first player in
Scottish football to fail an SFA drugs test. The Frenchman tested
positive for an amphetamine-based substance after a match against
Kilmarnock in April 1997. His contract was terminated.

Prominent cases in England have included as Roger Stanislaus's sacking
by Leyton Orient for using cocaine, Chris Armstrong's cannabis use as
a Crystal Palace player and Lee Bowyer's cannabis use when at Charlton.

Paul Merson, a former drug addict, completed his rehabilitation with a
A35 million move from Arsenal to Middlesbrough in 1997.

But perhaps the most famous footballer to fall foul of drugs is Diego
Maradona. Often dubbed the world's greatest player, he admitted taking
cocaine before a match in Italy and in 1994 he was sent home from the
World Cup in disgrace after traces of a stimulant, ephedrine, were
detected in a blood test.

Dr Bob Hughes, a substance abuse expert at Castle Craig rehabilitation
clinic in Peebleshire, said there was an element of complacency which
meant drug abuse in football was going unchecked.

He said: "Until we begin to look for drugs in football, it is very
easy to pretend they don't exist. I would have little doubt that if
drug tests in Scotland were properly conducted throughout football
then positive tests would be identified.

"As a population there has been a cultural change and people are more
willing to experiment with drugs. In that sense, footballers are no
different from the rest of society."