Professional Tennis Makes Drug Testing a Joke

Institutions that manage professional sports are still overwhelmingly opposed to the use of steroids and performance enhancing substances. The idea behind this is that the use of such substances results in unsportsmanlike behaviour or outright cheating. But it is essential to note that the incentives to cheat in professional sports today exists primarily because of the financial and reputational rewards that attach to athletic excellence.

With this fairly commong background, it appears that some sports management bodies are far more thorough in vetting for drug use than others are. Similar to the claim by Bill Gilford in the Slate Magazine, it is clear that the organizations that more throughly vet and test athletes are at a disadvantage because a larger proportion of the athletes there are bound to fail the tests. It is therefore very curious that a disproportionate number of professional tennis players are caught for use of these prohibited drugs.

As Gilford explains, while it is possible that professional tennis players are probably more honest than others, the advantages that are conferred by the substances would be relevant for this sport too. While I am wont to give the professional players the benefit of doubt, the very poorly designed testing regime for tennis is one that raises the possibility that a number of cheats are getting away. A better regime would obviosuly step up the number of tests and include a testing regime that is timed to ensure that the substances that are being tested for can be reliably detected.