A Sporting Chance

The sports world collided again with the dietary supplement industry, this time involving an unnamed, nationwide supplement retailer. Two New York Red Bulls soccer players, goalie Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke, have blamed their positive tests on a dietary supplement they say contained unlabeled androstatriendione (ATD); they claim they bought the supplement from a well-known national vitamin retailer.

ATD is banned by Major League Soccer but not by other professional sports leagues, nor by the recent Congressional Steroid Control Act of 2004. ATD is a precursor to the steroid boldenone, which is on the list of banned steroids and precursors.

The soccer players were banned for 10 games. Team officials would not release the name of the vitamin retailer in question or the name of the supplement. Conway apologized for his failed test, but not without taking a shot at the vitamin retailer:

"I do take full responsibility for what has happened and realize that I should have made sure by consulting with the appropriate team staff before taking the supplement," Parke said. "Purchasing an over-the-counter product at a nationally recognized retail chain ultimately led me to where I am today. I can only hope that this can be prevented in the future and be a learning experience for all players."

For one, there have been many prior sports doping cases accusing a supplement of misbranding or contamination/adulteration. Players should know by now all supplements should be approved before talking them and risking a sports career/reputation. That said, it is imperative that the evidence against the supplement and retailer is eventually made known, whether in legal proceedings or in a press release.

This is a heckuva charge against supplement retailers and supplements in general. These athletes need to start naming names. If there is a problem, it needs to be addressed swiftly and decisively by officials and industry. You retailers want consumers to have faith in your stores, guidance and inventory.

-Steve