Not one of the over 500 doping test carried out before and during the World Cup in South Africa returned positive, football’s ruling body FIFA revealed on Tuesday.
A total of 256 footballers from the 32 participating teams had to provide blood and urine samples during the June 11 to July 11 tournament while the same number were tested before the event began.
“In comparison to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA has doubled the number of pre-competition tests. Players have never been subjected to such in-depth testing ahead of a World Cup as they were this year,” FIFA Chief Medical Officer Professor Jiri Dvorak said in a statement.
It was therefore all the more pleasing that the teams were so cooperative, and the test results prove that top performances can be achieved in football without resorting to prohibited substances and methods.”
