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Professional athletes using performance enhancing drugs do it discreetly because sports organizations and anti-doping agencies prohibit its use. Athletes caught using these substances are usually given stiff sanctions which may include total ban from sports and paying huge fines. In the US, the government is even prosecuting top athletes for using performance enhancing drugs. Baseball legends Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens suffered a lengthy legal battle for their use of anabolic steroids. Others even served jail time for using steroids like Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones. Governments around the world are also doing the same to stop the use of PED?s by professional athletes.
North Korea has a Doping Program?
However, a recent report from Chosun.com revealed a possible involvement of the North Korean government in a doping program for its athletes. This is an alarming news because North Korean athletes may suffer the same fate with East German athletes. The latter was the first country to implement comprehensive doping which resulted to irreversible side effects on its athletes.
Unnamed Former High Ranking Official
The revelations of a former high ranking official from the communist state came after 5 North Korean soccer players tested positive for steroids in the recently concluded Women?s World Cup in Germany. Sports officials claimed that the failed test was due to a chinese medicine which contains steroids. They argue that the musk deer gland extract used to treat their athletes caused the positive test. However, FIFA has yet to come up with a final decision on the matter.
The source claimed that the government has been manufacturing performance enhancing drugs for its athletes for years. The communist state is serious in helping its athletes excel in sports particularly in international competitions by establishing manufacturing facilities in the country. ?The Sports Science Research Institute under North Korea?s Physical Culture and Sports Ministry operates two plants in Pyongyang?s Potong and Sosong districts that produce drugs for athletes,? the former high ranking official told Chosun.
North Korea Learned from East Germany
According to the defector, North Korea sent people to East Germany decades ago to learn how the latter manufacture these anabolic steroids without being detected in anti-doping tests. ?North Korea sent Sports Ministry officials to East Germany during the late 1980s to learn about the latest drug manufacturing technology,? he said.
The performance enhancing drugs are given to athletes as tonics or nutritional supplements. North Korean athletes may be taking these supplements without knowing the possible side effects when taken for longer periods. ?The drugs can make athletes strong, but they cannot be detected by most doping tests,? he added.
Top Officials Overseeing the Production of Banned Drugs
The source also added that top officials in the country are overseeing the production of banned drugs for athletes. He named Physical Culture and Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol and First Vice Minister Jang Ung as key people in the program. He also revealed that it was also used in the military years ago to enhance the combat capabilities of the soldiers. However, the main users now are athletes in the military.
The International Olympic Committee may also come into the picture because of the allegation that Jang Ung, a member of IOC, facilitates the financing and purchase of the ingredients used to manufacture these performance enhancing drugs.
Evidences to Prove Allegations
These allegations will be putting the North Korea in a bad limelight. However, as long as the defector will not disclose his true identity, these allegations can be easily countered by the North Korean government. He must present evidences that athletes of the country are using anabolic steroids.
North Korea has a Doping Program?
However, a recent report from Chosun.com revealed a possible involvement of the North Korean government in a doping program for its athletes. This is an alarming news because North Korean athletes may suffer the same fate with East German athletes. The latter was the first country to implement comprehensive doping which resulted to irreversible side effects on its athletes.
Unnamed Former High Ranking Official
The revelations of a former high ranking official from the communist state came after 5 North Korean soccer players tested positive for steroids in the recently concluded Women?s World Cup in Germany. Sports officials claimed that the failed test was due to a chinese medicine which contains steroids. They argue that the musk deer gland extract used to treat their athletes caused the positive test. However, FIFA has yet to come up with a final decision on the matter.
The source claimed that the government has been manufacturing performance enhancing drugs for its athletes for years. The communist state is serious in helping its athletes excel in sports particularly in international competitions by establishing manufacturing facilities in the country. ?The Sports Science Research Institute under North Korea?s Physical Culture and Sports Ministry operates two plants in Pyongyang?s Potong and Sosong districts that produce drugs for athletes,? the former high ranking official told Chosun.
North Korea Learned from East Germany
According to the defector, North Korea sent people to East Germany decades ago to learn how the latter manufacture these anabolic steroids without being detected in anti-doping tests. ?North Korea sent Sports Ministry officials to East Germany during the late 1980s to learn about the latest drug manufacturing technology,? he said.
The performance enhancing drugs are given to athletes as tonics or nutritional supplements. North Korean athletes may be taking these supplements without knowing the possible side effects when taken for longer periods. ?The drugs can make athletes strong, but they cannot be detected by most doping tests,? he added.
Top Officials Overseeing the Production of Banned Drugs
The source also added that top officials in the country are overseeing the production of banned drugs for athletes. He named Physical Culture and Sports Minister Pak Myong-chol and First Vice Minister Jang Ung as key people in the program. He also revealed that it was also used in the military years ago to enhance the combat capabilities of the soldiers. However, the main users now are athletes in the military.
The International Olympic Committee may also come into the picture because of the allegation that Jang Ung, a member of IOC, facilitates the financing and purchase of the ingredients used to manufacture these performance enhancing drugs.
Evidences to Prove Allegations
These allegations will be putting the North Korea in a bad limelight. However, as long as the defector will not disclose his true identity, these allegations can be easily countered by the North Korean government. He must present evidences that athletes of the country are using anabolic steroids.