Soccer Players And Painkillers

Soccer’s governing body says many players are putting their health at risk by taking painkillers before games.

FIFA says almost 40 percent of players at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were using painkillers before every match.

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with BBC Science correspondent Matt McGrath about the use of painkillers in soccer and other sports.

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Marco Werman: Many Europeans will have a welcome distraction from their financial woes later this week when the Euro 2012 Soccer Tournament gets underway, and just in time for that, soccer’s governing body is issuing a warning. FIFA says many top players are putting their health at risk by abusing painkillers. A FIFA study found that almost 40 percent of the players of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were taking painkillers before every match. That can be dangerous as BBC Science correspondence, Matt McGrath, told me.

Matt McGrath: If you’re taking painkillers in a regular situation, it may be okay, but if you’re taking painkillers and you’re exercising very hard, you’re putting an awful lot of pressure on your kidneys. Some of these painkillers, these non-steroid and anti-inflammatory drugs, they stem the blood flow to the kidneys, so if your kidneys are working really, really hard and you’re cutting down the amount of blood that’s going there, it’s going to be very damaging and over a period of time, it can be something that you may not even be aware of because of the analgesic effects of these drugs, so they’re worried that players are doing themselves long term damage in soccer over a number of years if they’re continuing to take these type of medications. We looked at one case, [inaudible]. He’s a Croatian soccer player. He plays in the apprenticeship in the U.K. and he lost a kidney in 2007 and he’s suing his club in Germany because he believes that they continued to give him painkillers when he had a problem with his kidney. The club defends themselves, they say no, this is a genetic problem, and that case is still before the courts, but it’s indicative of the way that things are going and the way people are thinking about this situation is that, you know, people are hiding these sorts of health problems.

Werman: Now there’s a case here in the U.S. related to 12 former NFL players who say medication masked the pain of head injuries. They were using something called Toradol.

McGrath: Yeah, that’s right. They were using a medication that had been widely used in a variety of different situations, an anti-inflammatory compound called Toradol. Their argument is that the players were given this medication often before games, before they incurred any injury, so that they were lined up and as one player called it, a cattle call, where they were lined up and given a shot, one after the other, and then they went out and suffered injuries in the games, didn’t feel them as badly as if they hadn’t had the medication, and then in their view, suffered greater damage to their heads as a result.

Werman: I mean it seems like it’s going to be a really tough problem to crack. Players want to play and if they’re not playing, that means somebody else is playing in their stead.

McGrath: Yeah, absolutely, and I think FIFA and other bodies of organized international sports are throwing their hands up a little bit here in the air and saying there’s nothing we can do because they feel that there isn’t, particularly with over the counter medications. They feel they have more control and they think that with greater awareness, they can deal better with the prescription medications, but even then, you know, resourceful players can go about and get medications in a variety of different ways, so there’s a great deal of concern. They do hold their hands up, they say we’re not sure what we can do, we can’t ban the medications, we can’t ban the players, we can’t treat it like a doping situation because we don’t feel that it is, but on the other hand, the evidence is that players are taking more medications and the long term consequences for their health and for their careers are incalculable at this point.

Werman: Do you think coming up to the next World Cup, we’re going to be hearing a lot more about this?

McGrath: I think it’s very much part of the game, the soccer game and other games at this point in time, and I think, therefore, we will. I think there is a big worry, and it’s really undiscovered in some respects, is what’s happening in underage levels and FIFA are very concerned about this, that the under 17 levels, they were finding 20 percent of players taking pain medication before every game. That’s very high in their view and they’re very concerned about that, so I think all they can say is, education, all they can say is, awareness. They can’t put any sanction in place and the nature of the game being what it is, the competitive nature of competitions, where you want your best players for the duration of the competition, means that it is like to stay with us and there will be consequences down the line in terms of long term impacts on health.

Werman: BBC Science correspondent, Matt McGrath, describing the dangers of painkiller abuse by soccer players and other athletes. You can read more about the FIFA report at Theworld.org.

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