Scott – Agree with the lack of co-ordination, plus there is a focus on some sports as whipping boys, other sports (with more financial muscle) slide on by.

Mark – Good point, I’d add one part, it’s not just purely financial motivation for match fixing (I’d pointed this out in a previous article), prestige, honour, ego etc lead many owners and officials to ensure their club wins or doesn’t lose – this is the most common form of match fixing though it will not be addressed for obvious reasons – that it is too widespread, far reaching and would devastate football.

Gerry – Thank you and you are right, though I would add that there needs to be a starting point for stamping out PED use. We all know the dangers to health of such cheating, though there needs to be an ultimate sanction, not just banning (and I’m not talking about beheadings or floggings, though they might be used for divers!).

Look at the pathetic sentences for match-fixing in Italy and Turkey, any half-decent suspension is quickly wiped under appeal.

If a body like WADA has no support at local level, then it’s a complete biological passport needed for all athletes, or they might as well just give up….

Drugs and medical tampering with the top players and clubs of all sports is rife and the authorities within those sports are colluding with those who are ‘at it’ to protect their brand or product. For anyone to believe it is a thing of the past or restricted to the old eastern bloc is naive. And then there is the match fixing/betting troubles. Sadly where there is a winner or a loser, there will always be the motive and opportunity to sway a result for financial gain. Maybe now it is easier to do but it is also easier to spot evidence of, if the will is there to find it.