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IPL 2009 news
Public reaction to doping scare was hard to deal with - Steyn
August 19, 2009
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News : Steyn cleared of doping violation
Players/Officials:
Dale Steyn
Series/Tournaments:
Indian Premier League
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore
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Dale Steyn has said he was "very disappointed" at public reaction during his recent drug scare and says that, though his name has been cleared after providing an adverse analytical finding during routine testing in the IPL, he fears some people will always associate him with illegal substance abuse.
"I kept being assured by our own team doctor that I had nothing to worry about but everyone else's first reaction was to immediately think I'd done something wrong," Steyn told Cricinfo. "People's reactions have probably been the hardest thing to deal with.
"When I was first told that there was an adverse finding I thought it was a joke. I actually laughed because as a professional cricketer I've been always been really careful about what medicine I take. Then I was told that this was going to a medical review committee and I got pretty scared. Maybe there had been a mistake? Anyway, I'm happy that it's over now - even though it should never have happened in the first place," Steyn said.
Many South African officials are still wary of speaking on the issue, given that it involves the powerful IPL, but the belief that Steyn was shabbily treated is clearly widespread. "He took a common headache medicine - Myprodol - containing codeine, which is not a prohibited substance. In certain people codeine can cause a high concentration of morphine in the urine. Anyone who has laboratory experience in analysing this situation knows that a slightly higher presence of morphine than otherwise permitted is totally acceptable where there is also this level of codeine," one CSA official said.
South African Cricketers Association (SACA) chief executive Tony Irish was equally condemnatory of the laboratory. "This has been a nightmare situation where a laboratory's poor handling of a player's test sample has left a very unfair question mark over that player," he said.
"South Africa's Institute for Drug Free Sport is a very competent organisation with established protocols and procedures. There is a fully accredited laboratory in Bloemfontein which would have handled this whole thing properly," Irish said. "It would have taken them a few hours to confirm that there shouldn't even be an adverse analytical finding. It would have all been quite normal. The Doping Control Laboratory used by IPL was an outsourced commercial one located outside SA.
"Someone owes Dale Steyn a big apology."
Neil Manthorp is a South African broadcaster and journalist, and head of the MWP Sport agency
Feeds: Neil Manthorp
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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Neil Manthorp
Neil Manthorp is a writer and broadcaster based in Cape Town where he started the independent sports news agency MWP Media in 1992. He has covered more than 40 tours and 120 Test matches since South Africa's return to international cricket and Zimbabwe's elevation to Test status. A regular commentator for SABC radio, Neil has also joined the host radio teams in West Indies, New Zealand, Australia and England - where he preferred Test Match Special's pork pies to their chocolate cake. He recently completed Gary Kirsten's biography.
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IPL is known for its publicity and media hypes. This is just another episode of their drama where the unfortunate protagonist happened to be Dale Steyn.
Posted by STEVILLIERS on (August 21 2009, 06:25 AM GMT)I believe that they owe Dale Steyn a massive apology considering that they brought it up to early after not being certain of the test results, i understand why Dale Steyn is feeling the way he is feeling at the moment!! But i agree with all the other comments 'people shouldn't think that Dale had used drugs considering that he's personality is really honest and i don't think that any SA CRICKETER would ever use DRUGS. Dale Steyn has nothing to worry about considering that he is an awsome cricketer and hopefully always will be!!
Posted by HowZatbro on (August 20 2009, 19:01 PM GMT)Incompetence from the BCCI, what a surprise. I encourage all non Indian cricketers to boycott the IPL. It has provided nothing but injuries and conflict with international schedules. Couple that with the fact that is a garishly tacky and disgusting affair.
Posted by ramanan50 on (August 20 2009, 04:29 AM GMT)It is mandatory for the officials , to disclose names of those who are being tested,until and unless the test results are positive.The officialdom owes Steyn at least an apology if not compensation.
Posted by ToMegaTherion1986 on (August 20 2009, 01:24 AM GMT)This is disgraceful on part of the IPL. It is really getting frustrating as a fan to see the IPL in conjuction with the BCCI always throwning their weight around unnecessarily. Thankyou to Dale Styne for following the proceedures. Don't worry, any fan with half a brain will look at the IPL over their choice of testers for this. I'm still a fan Dale i look forward to seeing the next ten years of South African cricket with you the spearhead.
Posted by Wisdom_of_Cricket on (August 19 2009, 22:03 PM GMT)I think the public needs to understand that this was an incident in which a lab technician messed up the results. And not where a cricketer took illegal drugs. Sometimes when a reader reads a newspaper article, he or she tends to jump to conclusions according to what is said in the headlines and the opening lines of the news report. We as humans, needs to understand that the media often makes a big deal about a little issue, and often the truth in the news report is hidden in the article. By "hidden" I mean to say that a reader needs to read carefully and read the entire article thoroughly.
Posted by TwitterJitter on (August 19 2009, 16:06 PM GMT)Steyn has nothing to feel guilty about. He did nothing wrong. The news should not be in public domain until all the cross-checks are done against medications taken and disclosures made prior etc. I am not sure how this news came out in public domain. I did not read news that the laboratory made the results public. Lalit Modi denied that Steyn had failed the test. Who announced it to the press that he failed the test? Either way, that process needs to be corrected so that public disclosure happens only at the end of the complete process and not somewhere in between. Something went wrong here. I agree that whoever jumped the gun and went public with this before hand should apologize to Steyn.