Controversy in Soccer: Sergio Ramos’ doping
World class soccer player Sergio Ramos is under a cloud of doping. On November 24th football website “Football Leaks” released news about Ramos failing a doping test after the 2016–17 Champions League Final. Ramos took a medicated drug called Dexamethasone. Dexamethasone is included in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list, but it is only prohibited during competition.
What is the Dexamethasone?
Dexamethasone is a useful medicine. It is used in the treatment of many illnesses including rheumatic problems, skin diseases and severe allergies. Dexamethasone is even registered as a “WHO Model List of Essential Medicines”. Dexamethasone is also a great pain reliever, and it is the reason why FIFA prohibits this medicine. Sometimes players conceal their injuries and play matches. To relieve their pain, players take Dexamethasone and get more seriously injured. FIFA wants to prevent this situation. However, FIFA allows to use of Dexamethasone for treatment during the season.
Who is the Sergio Ramos?
Sergio Ramos is now a captain of Real Madrid FC and the Spanish national football team. He is called a best defender and one of the best players by fans. He has won La Liga champion 4 times, UEFA Champions league 4 times, FIFA World Cup once, Euro cup twice, and he was also selected as World Best XI 9 times. However, if the doping problem turns out to be true, Ramos will remain a huge blot on his career, and he may not be viewed as a legend later.
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Ramos and Real Madrid’s situation
After the Der Spiegel’s report, Real Madrid and Ramos immediately retorted about their news. They said “Ramos use Dexamethasone just for his treatment, and it is allowed to use Dexamethasone as treatment. He is not a subject of punishment”. The reason that this problem became serious was because of, simple mistake. The medical team recorded Betamethasone instead of Dexamethasone by mistake, and they admit their mistake.
Other people’s situation
In the soccer world there is an atmosphere of trust in Ramos. Jordi Alba, left back of rival team FC Barcelona, and a fellow in national Spanish team also said “He is not that kind of guy” and defends Ramos. Even Javier Tebas Medrano, the president of La Liga and UEFA defends Ramos.
Nowadays
Time has passed and Ramos’ doping problem has been treated as a scandalous rumor. However, no one knows the facts, so the investigation is supposed to continue.
