Football obviously has a doping problem

For an astonishing length of time the attitude of football authorities to the prospect of widespread doping at the sport’s highest levels seemed best summed up in a 2017 tweet by the often spectacularly dim-seeming Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.

‘Doping is not really an issue in football. Doping doesn’t help players play better. No amount of drugs will help you pass, dribble [or] shoot,’ he said – a statement that will presumably now come as a considerable shock to Juventus, France, and former Manchester United  midfielder Paul Pogba, who has just been handed a four year ban after being popped for use of synthetic testosterone.

Pogba, who in 2018 was a key member of France’s World Cup winning team, is the highest profile footballer to be banned for doping in the modern era.

The idea that performance enhancing drugs that significantly improve strength, speed and endurance – as well as hasten recovery times – would provide no benefits to elite footballers is clearly so idiotic it hardly needs examining, something in fairness Lineker did eventually seem to recognise when he later deleted the tweet and said: ‘I may be naive, it’s not my area of expertise and I’m probably guilty of not wanting it to be the case, as it would taint the sport I love.