Drugs in Sport
Former French scrum-half admits to doping
ESPN Staff
March 31, 2013

Former France international Jean-Pierre Elissalde has admitted to taking amphetamines during his playing career and said that performance-enhancing doping was rife during that time.

Elissalde, who made five appearances between 1980 and 1981 and subsequently coached Japan and French domestic sides, told a local radio station that the use of amphetamines was commonplace when he played.

"[They were] taken by cyclists, by footballers, and obviously by rugby players," he said. "I personally took amphetaminestwice, there is nothing extraordinary in that, and afterwards there were other forms of doping, notably in order to be able to work harder and to put on muscle."

He singled out players from the southern hemisphere as being the worst offenders but added that it was very much an individual thing and not institutionalised. "To my knowledge as a coach I never came across organised doping."

Elissalde's comments come days after it was revealed that rugby produced more positives drugs tests than any other sport in France in 2012.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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