As I said before, it’s Icarus. Leicester winning the league twice in a row or winning the CL would have raised many, many eyebrows. Maybe 6 players were doping the season they won it and three or four packed it in after that and went clean?
I’ve played at a decent level and met many semi-pros, ex-pros and current pros (one in particular an ex-top level star now playing in the SPL). Steroid use 100% is far and wide in the UK. I suspect it’s 1000 times worse in lesser scrutinised countries in Eastern Europe and continents like Africa.
But the quote with Desailly is correct. Clubs will never engage in a doping policy. It’s too risky. Instead, a blind eye is turned to the potential their players are on something. It keeps the clubs in a position to distance themselves in an investigation and continue to compete. Not to mention all the legal ramifications.
Individuals however, well they are free to more or less do what they want. In the lower leagues, you’d be shocked if an official came to do a test more than once a year - and that’s only on one player. Urine samples are the norm - these are easily circumvented.
To say that it is the reason that teams (like Leicester) are successful is untrue, but does it play a part? Absolutely.
One thing that is shocking is a lot of players don’t “know” what they are given; especially by doctors. The Guardiola piece about sending his players away to his special doctor - I’m inclined to believe at least some of the players didn’t know anything about medicine and recovery. The players aren’t that educated in this field (or at least they weren’t) and while ignorance isn’t an excuse, some may truly believe they have just being given “vitamins”.
It’s almost certainly rampant nowadays with how easy it is to get a hold of and ways to get around testing continue to improve - the classic cat and mouse. The issue is that it’s in everyone’s best interests to keep a lid on it. Everyone loses out (player, club, FA) if players start getting exposed left, right and centre.
I’m pretty sure the Dutch contingent in your post were caught because of the national team doctor supplying “supplements” aka Deca. An ex-Premier League Welsh international “disappeared” for well over a season with an “injury” - while this may be true, I know for a fact he was good friends with players connected to doing this sort of thing. Abel Xavier got caught doing Deca as well.
Players all over Italy and Germany got called out. Jens Lehmann has come out in the past and said his teammates (not Arsenal) were doping. Early 00’s players like Blasi, Couto, Guardiola... I can’t imagine what it’s like in places like Russia.
The rise in heart palpitations and problems is a massive concern and it all points to one issue. Players like one of our ex-strikers, or a previous world class midfielder falling off a cliff - when you start to understand how these drugs work, you know that taking other drugs for “vanity” reasons can limit the effect on them. Of course performance starts to suffer inconceivably over a short period of time. Burnout is a real thing and a possibility but there’s always that nagging thought in the back of your head - that these players are on the same trajectory that many others who aren’t in sports but do take these drugs are on.