Charlton Athletic Online

It seems that football in the UK is in for another media pounding - hot on the heals of Christian Ronaldo's arrest on a rape charge, we learn today that a footballer (as yet un-named) has failed a drug test and has been banned for six months. The drug taken was cocaine, but as the player was tested "out of competition" it was not considered performance enhancing, and the ban is therefore not the full two-years it could have been.

I expect the tabloids will be trying to find out who this player may be - he could be playing for a Premiership club, or in the lower leagues. It shouldn't be hard to find him really; any player who hasn't been in the team so far this season and who will now have an "injury" that takes him through to February (the end of the six month ban) is likely to be under the spotlight. Don't be surprised to see the tabloids "out" someone soon...

At Charlton we have had several drug related problems, though none recent as far as I know. Lee Bowyer and Dean Chandler, then dopey youth team players, failed drug tests in the mid-nineties and faced bans that lasted most of a season, and first-teamer Jamie Stuart was sacked after he tested positive for cocaine. Another ex-Charlton youngster was also forced out of the game (in the late nineties) when he could not control the money equals power conundrum and spent his earnings on illegal substances.

It shouldn't really be a surprise when footballers are found to spend their money in a poor way - for all the sound professionals like Chris Powell there are bound to be uncontrollable idiots like Bowyer. It may be OK for glamour models, pop stars, actors and actresses, and politicians to be seen to be taking drugs but it isn't for footballers. The clubs try to educate, but peer pressure is hard for youngsters to control. That is also true of society, but the majority of society doesn't have the tabloid press peering at them at every turn, waiting for that one mistake...