Romario In The Clear Over Propecia Use

At the tribunal hearing Romario was extremely emotional

We have previously written about the legendary Brazilian footballer Romario who had been banned from playing his favourite game because of his use of the hair loss medication Propecia. The hair loss medication Propecia is on the list of banned medications because it can disguise the use of performance enhancing steroids. Propecia in itself does not enhance the performance of athletes.

The good news for Brazilian football and for Romario himself is that the sporting authorities in Brazil have overturned his four months ban on playing football after he appealed to them. They accepted his argument that he had only failed the test because of the use of the Propecia drug to combat his hair loss and that he had not been using any performance enhancing medications or steroids.

Romario is lucky because other athletes have not been so fortunate and have finished up being stuck on the benches for long periods of their career. There is much controversy about whether Propecia should be banned or not and it is hoped that very soon more sophisticated testing could be used so that the use of performance enhancing medication would be obvious even if the person was using Propecia.

At the tribunal hearing Romario was extremely emotional and said that he had been using the Propecia drug for over ten years and had never previously had any problems with testing. When the tribunal gave him the green light to continue playing football Romario was extremely grateful and said that he had “salvaged his honour”.

All professional sportsmen should be aware that they must not use the hair loss medication Propecia unless they have clear exemptions from the relevant doping authorities that they are allowed to use it. It could end up meaning that they are not able to play their professional sport.