FIFA Chairman Sepp Blatter (left) and FIFA Medical Commission Chairman Michel D'Hooghe pose at a press conference last week. <\/p>\n
AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n
BRUSSELS -- The abuse of anti-inflammatory medicine by football players is a bigger problem facing the sport than doping, FIFA medical chief Michel D'Hooghe said Monday. <\/p>\n
D'Hooghe said the abuse of anti-inflammatories is increasingly more prominent among teenage players who counter any bruise or over-exertion of muscles with the strong medicines which can have serious effects on kidneys, stomach and intestines later in life. <\/p>\n
\"The most worrying aspect is that we see the problem moving ever more into the youth categories,'' D'Hooghe said in an interview with The Associated Press. <\/p>\n
He said the increase among younger players was especially evident at the 2011 Under- 17 World Cup in Mexico and had risen since. <\/p>\n
FIFA has been hit by relatively few major doping cases in its history and D'Hooghe said beyond the cost of the anti-doping testing program, the world football federation should try to center on other issues, too. <\/p>\n
\"Doping is not our biggest problem. The anti-inflammatories are our biggest problem,'' D'Hooghe said. <\/p>\n
FIFA got its first major warning on the abuse of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where teams have to let FIFA know from 72 hours in advance of a game what medicine players get. <\/p>\n
\"There was one team where 21 of 23 players were using them,'' D'Hooghe said. <\/p>\n
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FIFA fears abusing of anti-inflammatory medicine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FIFA Chairman Sepp Blatter (left) and FIFA Medical Commission Chairman Michel D'Hooghe pose at a press conference last week. AFP\/Getty Images BRUSSELS -- The abuse of anti-inflammatory medicine by football players is a bigger problem facing the sport than doping, FIFA medical chief Michel D'Hooghe said Monday Continue reading