Four Corners: April 22

On Four Corners Geoff Thompson looks behind the issue of drugs in sport for his story “Who’s Cheating Whom?”

The Australian Crime Commission stunned sports fans when it announced it had evidence of the widespread use of peptides and hormones, that illicit drug use in athletes is under-reported and that organised crime is moving in on Australian sport.

The former head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) described the ACC’s findings as the blackest day yet for sport in this country. Significantly, these allegations were not confined to Olympic sports, but were aimed clearly at AFL and Rugby League clubs. But can the claims be substantiated?

This week reporter Geoff Thompson reveals what’s really going on behind the scenes in professional sport. He finds that not only are athletes, including those from major football codes, taking performance-enhancing substances but that the current drug testing system is inadequate. It’s also clear that sporting officials and politicians, up until now, have had very little appetite to stamp out drug taking and it has been whistleblowers who have borne the brunt of exposing drugs in sport, often to their detriment.

Monday 22nd April at 8.30pm ABC1.