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Christophe Rochus wants doping to be made legal

20K views 184 replies 68 participants last post by  zebedee 
#1 ·
A Belgian tennis player: "Doping is a reality. Why not legalize it? '
Reported by Imanol Corcostegui


It is rare to read as clearly expressed the doubts of a professional tennis player on the practice of doping in sport. Interviewed by Radio Twizz, Christophe Rochus, whose remarks were relayed by La Libre Belgique, is convinced that this is a reality:

"When I got in the top 100, I said in the media that it was boosted outrageous all these players and I received a threatening letter from the ATP Tour said:" This is the last time you mention that. You have no evidence, you have nothing. "Finally, all the players I mentioned have tested positive. They were all Argentines. '

Belgian wonders especially on sudden absences of some champions like Nadal or Soderling:

" Look Robin Söderling ... He won the tournament in Bastad in 2011 and since then it no longer plays tennis. It is supposedly seriously ill while I'm sure he was unbeatable at the time. We can not overlook the fact that it is very suspicious! It reached the highest level of his career and the day after, it says I can not play tennis ... Me, it seems incredible.

You say "Oh, that's weird." There is still a lot of suspicious things that happen and it seems that the best have nothing. Just like anywhere, there are always people you can buy! '




http://www.rue89.com/rue89-sport/20...-est-une-realite-pourquoi-ne-pas-le-legaliser
 
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#41 ·
:confused: no one is blaming a player, we are talking in general what the ATP should do if they will find out about a doping player.

i think the only thing that will makr everyone more relax is if the ATP will publish Regularly How many times each player was tested, where, after what tournament and what was the result.

And that an Independent body that will be responsible for this.
 
#49 ·
So one player (who never got anywhere close to the top) says players are doping.

Many other players ROUTINELY say there isn't any doping that they know of and somehow the one guy has more weight than the many who say there isn't any.

I would love to see Soderling run into Rochus sometime soon.

This is a textbook example of how the conspiratorial mindset disregards any evidence or testimony which doesn't agree with its premises and how it elevates what testimony it can find to the status of bold truth.
 
#53 ·
Everyone is blames everyone of doping without naming names, how much of this is really true and how much is due to jealousy of the other player?

i cant believe any of the top players is doping just cant.
 
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#61 ·
It's not like Rochus discovered a new continent. I'm sure these kind of things weren't in doubt for many of you and i'm sure these things happen. It's a shame they do but this is the reality. I mean in 2005 Puerta reached the RG final being doped didn't he? (the only relevant and most important example that comes to my mind atm)
 
#67 ·
Rochus should get a lot of credit for having the balls to speak his mind. Everyone else is too busy fawning over the 6 hour marathon battles that is tennis these days.
 
#71 ·
It's a depressing thought, and my instinct is to rage against doping legalisation. However, increasingly it feels as if the war against doping is being lost on the technical/logistical front - the drugs are not the miracle undetectables of myth, they're simply plain old EPO/HGH/testosterone, the same as 20 years ago. The problem is it's now well-known how to leave yourself clean to testing in a matter of hours - the "glow time", as the cyclists put it. Nothing short of mammoth, very intrusive numbers of tests can do anything against this (the approach cycling is indeed now using). Unless the science advances to pick up new markers for epo/hgh over a matter of days at least, it seems there isn't any other approach. As above though, not new drugs - it might just not be possible.

Alternatively, the war is being lost because the governing bodies have simply given up (see tennis).
 
#75 ·
He's right. Tennis doping controls are a joke.
His suspicion on nadull's case gives him bonus points.

Though doping shouldn't be legalized, obviously.
 
#77 ·
Doping will never be legalised, the public likes to think that what theyre watching is real. So they will continue to pretend like there is no problem, maybe with the occational scapegoat.
 
#81 ·
"Finally, all the players I mentioned have tested positive. They were all Argentines. '

Belgian wonders especially on sudden absences of some champions like Nadal or Soderling:

"Look Robin Söderling ... He won the tournament in Bastad in 2011 and since then it no longer plays tennis. It is supposedly seriously ill while I'm sure he was unbeatable at the time. We can not overlook the fact that it is very suspicious! It reached the highest level of his career and the day after, it says I can not play tennis ... Me, it seems incredible.

You say "Oh, that's weird." There is still a lot of suspicious things that happen and it seems that the best have nothing. Just like anywhere, there are always people you can buy!
Wow, there are some serious accusations here.

After hearing about Armstrong today...god knows what's going on out there. Doping, drugs, (death) threats, corruption, etc.
Cycling is really sick, I hope tennis isn't anywhere near that.
 
#90 · (Edited)
Armstrong case should be a good example to all those dopers around. They will be stripped off of all their accomplishments and banned from sports forever.
 
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#96 ·
so i can go aorund accusing everybody who is better than me in any area, of course with no proof
someone boasts of claiming Armstrong was doping, without evidence, I guess you did not know, just hoped so, and now you are glad, but I can say RF is diping, and if in 10 years he admits I can say I told you so, if not, who cares, noone will remember anyway
without proof it is only speculation, not only for doping, for anything, you can say million thing about million things, hoping just one to happen to be true, it is like telling the future - tell million things one will happen, 100%
professional sport does not run on mineral water, even allowed chemicals are chemicals and enhance performance, if you are poor you can
afford cheap chemicals and some of them can be contaminated, if you are rich you can afford the best, all this allowed
can a teniss player take multivitamin - sure, ordinary people are even urged to do it because food, water, soils are depleted, why not tennis players
i do not know how it is bit there should be standards, approved pool of medical substances and producers so everybody is on the same stuff
you just cannot train and play all this time and do it on water and steak,
about gluten - every person with 2 brain cell should be off this mean protein let alone a tennis player, clever Nole, all the Paleo craze is about ditching gluten and other tricky stuff, the first thing a pro sport person should do is get rid of grains
 
#101 ·
Well, anyway, sorry for the posting spree. I do not want people to think that I'm trying to denigrate tennis or sports in general, or that I'm trying to be an attention-seeker by claiming credit for knowing better than everybody else.

It's just that it makes me sad to see people being very naive about doping (from my point of view). I'm afraid some of them will be very disappointed one day, as I was, if it turns out that doping is indeed widespread. Also, I'm tired of seeing specific players or sportsmen being singled out for criticism about doping, because I believe it is unfair (people accuse the players they don't like of doping, and ignore the suspicions on the others).

But anyway, we all have to live with our contradictions. My contradiction is that I have become very disillusioned about doping, and about the honesty of people in sports, and yet, I still get up at 4am to watch the Australian Open, and I'm still thrilled at the idea that I may go to Roland-Garros this year. I still love watching great skaters, great tennis players, and great cyclists evolve in front of my eyes. I would still be happy as anyone could be if Ferrer won a Slam.
So in a way, maybe I'm still living in Disneyland too.

Anyhow, I need to go back to work now.
 
#104 ·
Tribalfusion - are these quotes enough to consider them as "tons"? I believe it's quite a lot, from all kinds of players.
 
#111 ·
If I was a famous tennis personality, I would also say "We know that there are some who do, doping is in all sports and we just have to do whatever we can to minimise it."

Then, my name would end up on that website, and some guy in his house will jump on it and say 'MORE PROOF THAT DOPING IS WIDESPREAD, ITF TESTS COVERED UP AND DON'T WORK, HAPPENS ALL THE TIME." When in reality I just meant, it's highly unlikely no-one does, some have to, like some do in every single sport ever. That doesn't mean it's as widespread as it is/was in Cycling, Baseball, and Swimming.

Even if they tested 50/50 blood and urine and doubled the tests, and say this doubled the amount of people who got caught (which would still mean less than 10 players most years, the vast majority of which being futures/challengers players), the guys who currently think everyone dopes will still think that everyone dopes. That's why it's annoying to see professional players bring the sport down with absolutely no evidence, we already have the dissenting <1% of online fans for that, doing it where they can't hurt anyone.
 
#113 ·
That's absurd his unfounded accusations on nadal and soderling. This guy is a nobody.
 
#125 ·
That's absurd his unfounded accusations on nadal and soderling. This guy is a nobody.
So?

A nobody has little to lose and is more likely to be frank.

Silent bans, I doubt it woman.

My first suspect for juicing would be Bjorn Borg. Resting heart rate of 34 BPMs. This guy had to be on something.
 
#117 ·
http://tennishasasteroidproblem.blogspot.com/p/players-talk-about-doping.html

it's not just said now. No one has any urge or motivation saying anything about it, so it's only when a journalist catches an ex player in speaking mode.

Tell them they'd go to jail for 5 years if they obstruct investigations by not sharing their knowledge and things will get unfolded very fast.

Until then we'll hope that some journalist will catch some ex player drunk somewhere and the latter would drop some bomb, which could be veryfied.
 
#119 ·
I'm fine with people speaking up about problems with doping in tennis and what more needs to be done, even when the ITF/ATP etc are not comfortable with it. :) But to bring up specific players names without any real evidence, and say doping should be made legal is just stupid. :p
 
#131 ·
Lol, Personally I think he obviously just made provocative statement here to have attention on this subject, no way he believes doping would be legalized. That said with current joke testing system there is even silent acceptance to doping, so in this light his comment makes all the sense :worship:. So I think (as many others) that they should rather be way stricter with testing, right now obviously rly huge percent of players use at least something to recover more quickly if nothing else, it might even be that competition is so tough that not using something is too much of an handicap currently so in the end it's quite easy to justify using doping to yourself too...
 
#134 ·
The Soderling mention actually makes a lot of sense. It´s amazing how these things fly below the radar, but if you look at it... Soderling came from a foot injury when playing Wimbledon. 3 weeks later he probably played one of the most powerfull perfomances i have ever seen on clay. The way he demolished Berdych and Ferrer was outstanding.

And then... he disappears.

Isn´t this suspicious? And i like Soderling, but this doesn´t add up.
 
#136 ·
I like Söderling too. But return after Båstad this year would really seem suspicious. There's one reason why some sportsmen have to be aside for two years.

No, I'm not accusing Söderling. But there are suspicions that ATP doesn't announce all doping cases. And that makes strange absenses look a bit suspicious.
 
#135 ·
For sure doping shouldn't be legal, at least in tennis. Doping could change the nature of tennis too much. Eventuially everybody would be a tirelessly grinding strong ballbasher. :help:
 
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