Prljavi igraju prljavo
"Update, 19:58 CET: While we didn't know this originally, HGH is banned
under FIFA law, as per this document: "On the 2006 FIFA list of
prohibited substances, HGH belongs to category S2, 'hormone and related
substances.'"
***
Sky Sports' Barcelona-based writer Graham Hunter
appeared on Irish radio show Off the Ball recently, and casually
mentioned that Barcelona's (and Spain's--this will be important) star
midfielder Xavi has used HGH (Human Growth Hormone) to deal with a calf
strain. Hunter nonchalantly mentions Xavi's HGH use, then went on to
explain that "was how they were treating him, very openly and publicly.
[HGH] is an injection that Barcelona has been using to deal with muscle
fatigue and muscle strains in their players over the past couple of
years. They use it as a treatment."
Human Growth Hormone is
banned in most major sports, certainly in all the major American leagues
(MLB, NFL, NBA) and cycling. It's a synthetic version of the naturally
occurring hormone that helps spur muscle and bone growth. In this case,
Barcelona are using HGH to spur muscle regrowth and repair.
If
this is true (we are inclined to believe Hunter, as he's a respected,
famous journalist and has been very pro-Barcelona in the past), then
there could be something really, deeply wrong with the sport generally.
If doping allegations are treated so trivially, then there is really
little hope of ever confronting doping on an international stage in
soccer."
DEMANTI AUTORA:
Yesterday evening, we posted a piece where we reported that Mr.
Graham Hunter, a journalist with Sky Sports--among other
things--casually mentioned that Barcelona, and Xavi in particular had
used "growth hormone" to treat a chronic achilles injury. In this case,
the devil is in the details: while Mr. Hunter did say "growth hormone,"
this was actually a misnomer and a mistake on his part; we took that
statement and ran with it, which was inappropriate and unprofessional.
We
made two mistakes: first of all, we did not contact Mr. Hunter for
further comment (we should have, given the nature of the accusation),
and secondly, we made a jump from "growth hormone" to "HGH," because we
assumed that an injection of "growth hormone" meant an injection of
"HGH". Both mistakes fueled about two hours of intense scrutiny here and
on Twitter, and we're very sorry for any misunderstandings our post may
have caused.
We regret that we did not contact Mr. Hunter, and
we wish him all the best, as he is a truly wonderful journalist. He was
kind enough to send me information on the actual procedure that Xavi had
undergone, which was an injection of blood plasma rich in Growth
Factors (GF). This is legal, and is widely practiced. Here are some
links to stories about plasma injections and GF, including a link to an
article by the Center for Integrated Medecine describing some of the
benefits of High Density Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections.
This
misunderstanding stemmed from a lack of care on my part. I want to
personally apologize for not taking the time to check all the facets of
such a complicated story before publishing it. I regret any harm my
actions caused to Mr. Hunter, and to the community at large. I strive to
bring only slightly biased reporting on Real Madrid activity to this
site, and my lack of professionalism in dealing with such a situation is
unforgivable. I will do better in the future.
da ne bi ovo ostalo "visit u zraku".