Almost 50 per cent of professional players believe football has a drug problem.
A survey of 700 players for Monday night's 'Real Story' programme on BBC1 says that 46 per cent of professionals are aware of a colleague using recreational drugs while the same number also believe the sport is facing a substance-abuse problem.
The FA conduct random testing after games and at training grounds but the programme reveals 5.8 per cent of players surveyed claimed to have advanced warning.
Professor Ivan Waddington from the University of Leicester, who conducted the survey, tells the programme that football is facing more of a threat than had previously been thought.
He said: "It certainly is a significant minority and it suggests that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is rather more widespread than the FA test results would indicate.
"Young players between 19 and 24, who were most likely to report they knew players who used drugs, suggest that the increase is a very recent phenomenon."
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A survey of 700 players for Monday night's 'Real Story' programme on BBC1 says that 46 per cent of professionals are aware of a colleague using recreational drugs while the same number also believe the sport is facing a substance-abuse problem.
The FA conduct random testing after games and at training grounds but the programme reveals 5.8 per cent of players surveyed claimed to have advanced warning.
Professor Ivan Waddington from the University of Leicester, who conducted the survey, tells the programme that football is facing more of a threat than had previously been thought.
He said: "It certainly is a significant minority and it suggests that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is rather more widespread than the FA test results would indicate.
"Young players between 19 and 24, who were most likely to report they knew players who used drugs, suggest that the increase is a very recent phenomenon."
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