With the Pan American Games well underway there is more reason than ever for athletes to resist the temptation of a few tacos and be extra careful about what they eat.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) revealed this week that 109 of 208 soccer players tested positive for clenbuterol during the Under-17 FIFA World Cup held in Mexico in July. A banned substance that can cause an increase in aerobic capacity, clenbuterol is still used illegally by some Mexican farmers to bulk up cattle.
FIFA medical officer Jiri Dvorak called the results “highly surprising” but insisted that the teenage soccer players were not cheating. “It is not a problem of doping, but a problem of public health,” he told reporters, adding that none of the players were harmed or put in any danger.
Players from 19 of the 24 participating countries tested positive, at a shockingly high rate of 52.4 percent. FIFA and the WADA have declined to prosecute any cases because the weight of evidence points strongly to contamination.
Mexico’s winning team all tested clean, having switched to a fish and vegetables diet before the competition. This precaution was taken after five members of Mexico’s senior squad were suspended for testing positive for clenbuterol ahead of the Gold Cup in June.
With Guadalajara currently hosting the Pan American Games, WADA issued a statement last week urging all athletes in Mexico to “exercise extreme caution with regards to what they eat and where they eat.”
Athletes have been warned to avoid meat sold by street vendors and advised to eat only in designated cafeterias.
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