Organised Crime in Sport

The Conversation has taken an in-depth look at the issue of organised crime and drugs in sport, which has been dominating news headlines in recent weeks. Just how widespread is the practice of doping? And what does it mean in terms of organised crime?

Doping: How Did It Become Widespread?

All athletes at the top level of competitive sport face clear incentives to take performance enhancing drugs. If the practice becomes normalised, teammates and competitors may feel pressured into taking drugs to stay competitive. There are also incentives for clubs and sporting organisations to turn a blind eye, or even assist players to dope. Medical practitioners and sports scientists face the problem of balancing the need to help athletes compete with the responsibility of caring for their health and welfare, and in some cases may push the legal and regulatory boundaries.

Legal drugs, as well as supplements and vitamins, are a normal part of elite sport. It is easy to see how athletes are able to justify taking one more tablet or injection, even when doing so takes them into the realm of illegality. While this is not an excuse, it goes towards explaining why the focus should be on the system that incentivises cheating, rather than heaping blame solely on the actions of individual athletes.

The Role of Organised Crime

The prohibition on the supply of performance enhacing drugs, combined with the high level of demand, inevitably brings organised crime into the picture. Substances are often smuggled from Europe or Mexico into the United States, and then on to Australia. The internet plays a role, with the ACC's report noting the emergence of online "grey and black markets" for pharmaceuticals. 

The ACC is concerned that organised crime will increase their presence in the distribution of illegal substances if allowed to go unchecked. This is also likely to lead to expansion in other areas of organised crime, which relies on established networks to pursue its activities. The connections used to smuggle performance-enhancing drugs could also be used to traffic 'hard' drugs and weapons. Links with athletes and clubs could see a rise in match-fixing, which is used as a source of profit and as a means of money laundering. 

The Conversation concludes that the challenge will be to address the demand for performance-enhancing drugs, rather than focusing solely on the supply. Stamping out the practice will be difficult task as long as there are such strong incentives for doping. 

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