In competitive sports, 

doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs by

athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports. The term doping is widely used by
organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use of drugs to enhance performance
is considered unethical, and therefore prohibited, by most international sports organizations,
including the International Olympic Committee. Furthermore, athletes (or athletic programs)
taking explicit measures to evade detection exacerbate the ethical violation with overt
deception and cheating.

Blood doping is an illicit method of improving athletic performance by artificially boosting

the blood's ability to bring more oxygen to muscles.

In many cases, blood doping increases the amount of hemoglobin in the bloodstream.
Hemoglobin is an oxygen-carrying protein in the blood. So increasing hemoglobin allows
higher amounts of oxygen to reach and fuel an athlete's muscles. This can improve stamina
and performance, particularly in long-distance events, such as running and cycling.

Types of blood doping: blood transfusions, injections of erythropoietin (EPO), injections of

synthetic oxygen carriers

Risks: blood clot, heart attack, stroke, HIV, and hepatitis B,C

The technology behind gene doping is very innovative and very intrusive. It involves taking a
gene that has the potential to enhance performance – whether it be by boosting blood
production, muscle growth or energy metabolism – and introducing it to the body, without
really knowing the risks.
By the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) it is defined as "the non-therapeutic use of genes,
genetic elements and/or cells that have the capacity to enhance athletic performance
Examples: human growth hormone, myostatin, vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast
growth factor, endorphin, erythropoietin
Risks: cancer, autoimmunization, and heart attack

Anabolic steroids, commonly called juice, hype or pump, are powerful prescription drugs.
They are controlled substances that people abuse in high doses to boost their athletic
performance. Anabolic steroids are not the same as steroid medications, such as prednisone
or hydrocortisone, that are legitimately used to treat asthma and inflammation of the skin or
other parts of the body. Anabolic means body building tissue. Anabolic steroids help build
muscle tissue and increase body mass by acting like the body's natural male hormone,
testosterone. However, steroids cannot improve an athlete's agility or skill. Many factors
determine athletic ability, including genetics, body size, age, sex, diet and how hard the
athlete trains.
Side effects: reduced sperm count, infertility, erectile dysfunction, hair loss, breast
development, increased risk of prostate cancer.
A substance that is naturally produced by the kidneys, and that stimulates the bone marrow
to make red blood cells. EPO has a long history of abuse in endurance sports. Blood doping
involves the misuse of certain techniques and/or substances like EPO to increase one's red
blood cell mass, which allows the body to transport more oxygen to muscles and therefore
increase stamina and performance.

Side effects: increased risk of several deadly diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and
cerebral or pulmonary embolism, serious autoimmune diseases.

Human growth hormone (hGH)- also called somatotrophin or somatotrophic hormone - is a

hormone that is naturally produced by the body. It is synthesized and secreted by cells in the
anterior pituitary gland located at the base of the brain.The major role of hGH in body growth
is to stimulate the liver and other tissues to secrete insulin-like growth factor IGF-1. IGF-1
stimulates production of cartilage cells, resulting in bone growth and also plays a key role in
muscle and organ growth. All of these can boost sporting performance.

Side effects: heart disease, diabetes, abnormal growth of organs, joint or bone pain

Beta-blockers lower the heart rate and have a strongly relaxing effect, and also because they
prevent muscle trembling, abuse for doping purposes occurs in sports that require particular
accuracy and concentration, for example in shooting, archery, darts, golf and snooker. In
addition, beta-blockers reduce anxiety.
Side effects: heart failure, asthma attacks, erectile dysfunction, fatigue and depression

There is much survey evidence that the public feels drug use is a threat to sports and that it
damages a sport’s reputation and some evidence on TV audience responses .The view that
doping harms a sport is also shared by many sports professionals, lawmakers, and the
media. Finally, there is circumstantial evidence from the Tour de France that live
broadcasters are less willing to cover an event, and sponsors less likely to endorse it, after
doping has been revealed (Buechel et al. 2014).

Recent studies show the first definitive evidence that the demand for a sports event is
negatively affected by news about drug use (Cisyk and Courty 2015). The evidence is based
on ticket sales (rather than random respondents interviewed in surveys) and measures
actual demand responses instead of consumer opinions. We leverage the 2005 introduction
by Major League baseball of a new set of random tests for drug use. Under this new policy, a
positive test is immediately announced publicly and the player is removed from the team.
This policy yields unique data for investigating the impact of drugs violations on attendance.

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was suspended in 2015 when allegations of
state sponsored doping emerged, while many athletes were barred from competing at Rio
2016.
The International Olympic Committee has revoked a total of 149 medals due to doping
violations in its history, with Russian athletes involved in the most cases.

Russia has been at the center of several doping scandals, with 46 Olympic medals won by
Russian athletes later revoked due violations of anti-doping rules.

Russian sportsmen were handing samples of urine months in advance, before taking cocktail
of anabolics

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the situation his country finds itself in regarding
anti-doping "is our own fault because the doping abuse did take place" but he again denied
the attempts to cheat the system were state-led.

The country is also banned from major international competitions through 2023, including
FIFA's World Cup, the Youth Olympic Games and the Paralympics

The consequences of doping could spell the end of your sporting career, your reputation and
your future prospects both in and out of sport.
The sanctions for an anti-doping violation can include:
Disqualification of results at an event, including forfeiture of medals
A ban from all sport (competing, training or coaching) for up to four years or even life in
repeat or the most serious cases
Publication of your anti-doping rule violation
Financial penalties.
Further to these sanctions, an athlete who has been found guilty of an Anti-Doping Rule
Violation is often exposed to a level of media attention that can result in permanent damage
to their reputation. This can mean stories on the TV news, in newspapers, on social media
such as Facebook and Twitter which, in cases of deliberate cheating, could lead to you being
the subject of public contempt.Doping rule violations can place pressure not just on you but
others close to you, friends, partners. It is these consequences which are frequently the most
difficult for athletes to deal with.

Ben Johnson - When Canadian track star Ben Johnson won gold in the 100m at the
Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea on September 24, 1988, he not only established a
new world record but also defeated his American rival, Carl Lewis. Then Johnson tested
positive for the steroid stanozolol. In the face of this evidence, he returned his gold medal,
which then went to Lewis.

Johnson had fame and million-dollar promotional deals before his fortunes reversed soon
after his win. Yet his downfall helped open the world's eyes to the fact that doping, was
happening throughout athletics.
Maradona - Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona, who'd led his team to victory in 1986's
World Cup, tested positive for five different variants of ephedrine at the 1994 World Cup.
Though he'd been suspended for 15 months in 1991-92 due to cocaine use, Maradona
had seemed to be making a comeback: he'd lost 26 pounds to get ready for the tournament and
had demonstrated his continued abilities with a goal and an assist in the first round.

Instead of continuing to represent his home country, Maradona made news for being tossed
out of the competition. His career lasted a few more years, but he never played for Argentina
again.

American cyclist Lance Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles in a row from 1999 to
2005. His wins made him famous, and the fact that he accomplished this as a cancer
survivor earned him even more plaudits. Along the way, questions were asked about his
possible use of performance-enhancing drugs, but no charges stuck. Then in 2010, Floyd
Landis, a former teammate who'd been involved in his own doping scandal, accused
Armstrong of doping.

In 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charged Armstrong with the use of performance-

enhancing drugs. Armstrong ultimately didn't contest the charges, which resulted in the loss
of his Tour de France titles and a ban from the sport of cycling. The agency released a report
in October calling Armstrong part of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful
doping program that sport has ever seen." In January 2013, Armstrong confessed to Oprah
Winfrey that he'd been doping for all of his Tour de France wins.

During a border search in Lille, a French town near Belgium, the Festina cycling team's
masseur was found to be transporting amphetamines, erythropoietin and steroids, all
performance-enhancing substances. Police searches, raids and arrests were set in motion
by this discovery, even as the Festina team began to compete in 1998's Tour de France.

After days of police interrogation, the team's manager and doctor admitted to the Festina
team's doping program. The team ended up being expelled from the race. The scandal
became one of the factors in the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999.