Should undisclosed tainted supplements equate to willful doping?

[Alpha_T83]

Recently there have been many 'tainted supplement' cases of MMA fighters testing positive for PEDs. Certainly some of these are legitimate cases of tainted supplements -- others not. But these situations bring up an interesting point:

Should fighters be found guilty of willful doping for 'tainted supplements' which were not voluntarily disclosed?

If a fighter uses PEDs and tests positive, they can simply find a supplement (or supplements) containing said PEDs. They then inform USADA that a tainted product resulted in their positive test, creating doubt. What is USADA to do in this cases?

To me, if a fighter tests positive for PEDs contained within a non-disclosed supplement, this should be tantamount to willful doping. This is the only way to keep fighters honest and reduce the frequency of tainted supplement defenses.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

The 'tainted supplement' excuse is nothing more than a cop-out, general blanket alibi that Juicing fighters and their slick lawyers / management use to continue cheating.

It's a freaking joke.

 

[mudrubble]

I bought some protein powder from GNC and I had a roid rage episode at the gym. I'm banned. So stupid, but I guess once blood is spilled there's no going back.

So I need to see these companies get their just desserts.

 

[La Elefante]

Tainted supplement... i'm sure the supplement companies want to spend more money to put expensive steroids into their product and set themselves up for a lawsuit.... hmmmmm I'm gonna go with worst excuse in the book

 

[Xaero]

Tainted supplement... i'm sure the supplement companies want to spend more money to put expensive steroids into their product and set themselves up for a lawsuit.... hmmmmm I'm gonna go with worst excuse in the book

I think Muscletech did it with a Nitrotech batch to give ridiculous gains to people so they keep buying their products.

 

[Venom]

Seeing as it's impractical to try to prove somebody took tainted supplements unwittingly, which isn't out of the question at all, remember this people,

"willfull doping" should just be as charged, willfull doping, but remember, the fair part is that they punish many guys for alleged mistakes too.

Like getting sentenced for manslaughter as opposed to first degree murder.

 

[PEDS Help me Post]

If you get caught doping and try and claim tainted supplements......

This should happen:

 

[Alpha_T83]

Tainted supplement... i'm sure the supplement companies want to spend more money to put expensive steroids into their product and set themselves up for a lawsuit.... hmmmmm I'm gonna go with worst excuse in the book

It can happen, though. USADA has their supplement 411 list which contains a list of high-risk supplements, many of which do contain known steroids: https://www.usada.org/substances/supplement-411/ It is very likely that there are supplements containing steroids that are not on this 411 list. Thus, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities that a fighter could take tainted supplements unknowingly.

This is why I think so much emphasis should be on the voluntary disclosure of supplements. If a fighter discloses they are taking supplement X, which is tainted, I think they should be given a lot of leniency for their first offense. However, if Supplement X is not disclosed, it should be assumed they are willfully using PEDs. This would put a pin in the tainted supplement defense, since fighters disclosing supplements containing PEDs would run the risk of having their fight canceled if anyone notices.

Also, this supplement would be on record forever. Thus, if said supplement was shown to contain steroids 1-2 years later, they could face retroactive suspensions. Therefore fighters would thoroughly vet any disclosed supplements before submitting their list.