In India, the doping scandal involving school children is threatening to take shocking proportions with schools from Punjab and Maharashtra topping the list of offenders.

Eleven children - from boxing, wrestling, and weightlifting - tested positive for steroids and diuretics during the 57th National School Games, which concluded recently in New Delhi, according to NationalAnti-Doping Agency .

From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

While the three wrestlers tested positive for diuretic furosemide (a substance used to mask the presence of prohibited substances in the body), the weightlifters’ samples contained the steroid stanozolol THC (found in marijuana). The boxers tested positive for a cocktail of banned drugs - stanozolol THC (marijuana), methylhexaneamine and nandrolone.

Those caught for doping in wrestling are from schools in Maharashtra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, while in weightlifting the positive cases came from the students of Delhi and Punjab schools. In boxing, the positive samples were found in students from Maharashtra, Manipur and Punjab.

“This has become a very serious matter. That 14 per cent of the samples have returned positive is a matter of shame for the schools and officials. It is much higher than the national average of 4 per cent,” NADA director general Rahul Bhatnagar told TOI.

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Muhammed Lawal, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, will not file an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

The champion tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone following a Jan. 7, 2012, win over Lorenz Larkin.

From Mmamania.com:

Drostanolone, also found in previous drug test results from Josh Barnett and Hermes Franca, is popular among athletes and competitive bodybuilders because its “anti-estrogenic properties make it a very effective cutting agent.”

But “King Mo” insists he “had no intent of taking any illegal substance.”

That’s according to his manager Mike Kogan, who told the MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting) that Lawal ingested “a supplement called S-Mass Lean Gainer by Rock Solid, which Lawal said he bought at a Max Muscle store in California and used only sporadically for ‘rehab stuff.’”

“When I went to Max Muscle, I figured you can’t buy steroids at a Max Muscle. It’s a chain store,” he said. “That’s like going to a grocery store and buying something illegal there. …I guess that’s the mistake I made. When I looked at the bottle, it just had a bunch of numbers on it. It had the ingredients. I didn’t see anything that looked illegal on the bottle, to be honest with you,” Lawal said.

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The California State Athletic Commission confirmed two weeks ago that all UFC 139 fighters tested clean for recreational/drugs of abuse.

A representative of the CSAC said steroid tests also came back clean for this past month’s event.

From Mmajunkie.com:

The night’s main card aired on pay-per-view, and the preliminary card aired on Spike TV and streamed on Facebook. Dan Henderson defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the night’s main event.

In addition to those headliners, Wanderlei Silva, Gleison Tibau, Shamar Bailey, Cung Le, Danny Castillo, Brian Bowles, Urijah Faber, Rafael dos Anjos, Ryan Bader and Jason Brilz also were tested for anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

UFC 139 took place Nov. 19 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

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Colin Lathbury has been asked to pay back more than £400,000 he obtained in his role as part of a multi-million pound empire of illegal steroids.

The South Derbyshire man was one of the four conspirators in the racket to have nearly £4 million of their assets confiscated.

From Burtonmail.co.uk:

Lathbury, now of Jurby East, on the Isle of Man, was ordered to pay back £412,676.50p within six months or face another 42 months behind bars.

The illegal anabolic steroids operation was led by Patrick Hyland, assisted by his former wife, Hyacinth, described as the money laundering ‘brains’ of the operation.

The Hylands were said to have funded a lavish lifestyle of expensive houses, boats, cars, jewellery, art and luxury holidays on the illegal profits of the drugs sourced from the Czech Republic in huge quantities.

The steroids racket came to the limelight during a police investigation into the disappearance of Paul Duckenfield, a known dealer.

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After admitting being part of a plot to deal illegal and dangerous bodybuilding drugs, two St Helens-based police officers will spend time in jail.

An undercover police officer exposed detective Constable Paul Fletcher and Sergeant Paul Hornby. It was found that they were involved in the supply chain of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone.

From Sthelensstar.co.uk:

Fletcher, aged 47, was sentenced to the most severe punishment of seven and a half years in prison after Liverpool Crown Court was told he also admitted leaking confidential information to an underworld criminal about the arrest of four men following a house burglary in Dentons Green.

He also offered advice to a suspect who was being investigated for firearms offences and revealed the identity of a police informant, placing him in danger.

Fletcher, of Downall Green Road, Wigan, even persuaded his son, Paul Fletcher Jr., to enter the world of criminality and deal in steroids.

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Former All Blacks are left fuming over allegations of steroid taking in the 1990s.

New Zealand Rugby Union’s head of sales and marketing between 1997 and 1999, Jack Ralston, made the allegation in his yet-to-be-released biography, The Sports Insider, the Press reports.

From Nzherald.co.nz:

“People might be stunned by this but I know at least two All Blacks in the 1990s who responded to demands that they bulk up by taking steroids,” he wrote.

Ralston would not name the two players, who he said had told him in confidence, telling Fairfax Media they were “smaller guys who needed to put on muscle and bulk who were under pressure”.

He said the players may now feel they can speak publicly about taking the performance enhancing substances.

“He has cast aspersion on a lot of people and I can say that during my time with the team I saw none of that,” ex-captain Taine Randell told Fairfax.

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China has penalized 113 people, including 17 government employees, over a chemical tainted pork scandal, according to official state media.

Liu Xiang, the prime suspect, received the death sentence with two years’ reprieve on conviction of harming public safety, the China Daily revealed.

From English.ntdtv.com:

The Chinese regime continues to struggle reeling in corruption in the food industry. One hundred thirteen people have been sentenced in a tainted pork scandal that came to light earlier this year. Several farms were using a banned chemical called Clenbuterol in their pig feed—it made the pork leaner and therefore more expensive, but could poison people. Most of those sentenced were involved in producing or selling the chemical. Also sentenced were government officials such has health inspectors, who turned a blind eye and now face corruption charges.

Liu and collaborator, Xi Zhongjie, sold over 2,700 kilograms of clenbuterol to pork farmers across eight provinces in China, the official state media Xinhua reported.

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A Madrid court recently said the doctor at the centre of a Spanish doping probe may be jailed for up to two years for crimes against public health.

Prosecutors have asked for a two-year sentence for Eufemiano Fuentes and six others, including his sister Yolanda and former cycling team directors Manolo Saiz, Vicente Belda and Jose Ignacio Labarta, according to a court statement.

From Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com:

Authorities also wanted them banned from practising their professions for the same period, the statement added.

Raids at the start of the operation uncovered anabolic steroids, blood transfusion equipment and more than 200 code-named blood bags, some of which were linked to cyclists including former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich and Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso.

The investigation was halted twice without any prosecutions having been made but a court ordered it to be reopened last year.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had expressed frustration at the refusal by judicial authorities of Spain to allow them access to evidence related to the operation.

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According to ex-enforcer Georges Laraque, steroid and illegal drug use was a problem in the NHL not too long ago.

Laraque talks about steroid use in the NHL in his new book, “The Story of the NHL’s Unluckiest Tough Guy.”

From Larrybrownsports.com:

“I have to say here that tough guys weren’t the only players using steroids in the NHL,” the former Canadien wrote. “It was true that quite a lot of them did use this drug, but other, more talented players did too. Most of us knew who they were, but not a single player, not even me, would ever think of raising his hand to break the silence and accuse a fellow player.”

Laraque explained that if you look at a player’s decrease in efficiency and weight loss, you’ll notice there is a significant drop every four years when the Winter Olympics are held.  Obviously, the Olympics have a strict drug testing policy which would result in players being declared ineligible if they were caught.

“Before a game, as I would warm up on the ice, I would always look at the tough guy on the other side,” he said. “If his arms were trembling, if his eyes were bulging, I knew for sure he wasn’t going to feel any of the punches I would give him.”

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A steroids dealer was sentenced to five years and one month in prison on federal drug and gun charges after he said he had a plan to kill police officers.

The 38-year-old, Damon Bruce Beshears, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, according to a plea deal Beshears had reached with prosecutors in August.

From Statesman.com:

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Marshall said that he agreed to the deal presented by Beshears’ lawyer in part because Beshears has a history of mental illness — he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital about two months before his arrest in June.

“I talked to the officers who were involved and their impression was he was more of a danger to himself than to them,” Marshall said.

Beshears’ lawyer, Joe Lopez, said his client’s mental health has drastically improved since his arrest.

“The steroids, in combination with the other medication that he takes, I think, just drove him nuts,” Lopez said. “He was a prisoner in his own body.

“I can totally tell now that the steroids are not a part of his life; he’s completely a changed person,” Lopez said.

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