428143
Footballguy
ESPN.com news services
If the World Anti-Doping Agency produces blood-test kits for HGH, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw told The Charlotte Observer he doesn't want to see them used in the league.
"I have no confidence in WADA or their kits," Upshaw told the Observer in an e-mail. "I have my doubts about WADA and their history. I am not willing to accept them as an authority on this.
"The league may have some interest, but it will not be done without approval of the players."
WADA science director Dr. Olivier Rabin told the newspaper that WADA will release the commercial blood-testing kits before the end of the year.
The NFL currently only uses urine tests, which can't detect HGH, but The Observer reported that NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is "open to considering" the blood-testing kits if WADA made them available.
WADA president **** Pound defended the tests.
"I don't know where he's coming from," Pound said of Upshaw in a telephone interview with The Observer. "The HGH test is good. The science is good. It makes it look like he doesn't want blood testing.
"You can't look at a cross section of the NFL and its players and not come to a conclusion, even as a non-specialist, that some of this is being used."
The Observer, citing experts on the subject, reported that the tests would only detect synthetic HGH in the first 24-36 hours after an athlete injects it into his or her body.
As a result, Rabin told The Observer that the test would be best suited for unannounced testing.
"It's a [far] sight better than having nothing," Pound told the newspaper.
www.espn.com
If the World Anti-Doping Agency produces blood-test kits for HGH, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw told The Charlotte Observer he doesn't want to see them used in the league.
"I have no confidence in WADA or their kits," Upshaw told the Observer in an e-mail. "I have my doubts about WADA and their history. I am not willing to accept them as an authority on this.
"The league may have some interest, but it will not be done without approval of the players."
WADA science director Dr. Olivier Rabin told the newspaper that WADA will release the commercial blood-testing kits before the end of the year.
The NFL currently only uses urine tests, which can't detect HGH, but The Observer reported that NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is "open to considering" the blood-testing kits if WADA made them available.
WADA president **** Pound defended the tests.
"I don't know where he's coming from," Pound said of Upshaw in a telephone interview with The Observer. "The HGH test is good. The science is good. It makes it look like he doesn't want blood testing.
"You can't look at a cross section of the NFL and its players and not come to a conclusion, even as a non-specialist, that some of this is being used."
The Observer, citing experts on the subject, reported that the tests would only detect synthetic HGH in the first 24-36 hours after an athlete injects it into his or her body.
As a result, Rabin told The Observer that the test would be best suited for unannounced testing.
"It's a [far] sight better than having nothing," Pound told the newspaper.
www.espn.com
