Unit 7 Final Assignment Paper and Powerpoint

The Ethical Problems Related with the Superstar Professional Athletes’ Usage of PEDs and the Role of Coaches in the Fight against the Phenomenon

Trae’Von Clavo

Belhaven University

MSA 670

Dr. Woods

10/24/2020

Running head: SPORTS ADMINISTRATION ISSUE

The Ethical Problems Related with the Superstar Professional Athletes’ Usage of PEDs

Sports ethics are very integral to any sporting activity. Values like strong work ethics, integrity, sportsmanship, and general ethical conduct or behavior remain at the individual athletes' apex and professional teams' goals. However, when the athletes fail to live up to the ethical expectations, they are likely to be recipients of immense public ire and league penalties. Several ethical issues are increasingly taking traction in sports, including the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by athletes. In every major sporting team and association, any athlete who has been found guilty of using any illegal performance-enhancing drug will likely face a diverse range of penalties, including fines, recall of awards, suspension, or even expulsion. Thus, as one of the sports administrators close to the athletes, athletics coaches have an integral role in preventing the use of such drugs.

Despite all these adverse consequences, many athletes still use doping drugs and related performance-enhancing substances. Several high profile athletes like Andre Agassi, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, Maria Sharapova, Ben Johnson, Ekaterina Bobrova, etc. have either admitted or found guilty of using these drugs (CBC News, 2016). Annually, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) screens urine and blood samples from several hundreds of thousands of Olympic athletes. From these tests, up to 2% of them usually test positive for prohibited substances. However, it is projected that the number of actual cases could be significantly high (Specktor, 2018).

A successful sports administration and management career require that one understands the influence of ethics in professional sports. Sports managers must always be aware that if players break the ethical rules and guidelines, both the player and the team can face severe fines and penalties. Unfortunately, many athletes still use performance-enhancing drugs. PEDs can boost any form of activity performance in humans because they increase muscle mass and strength. In sports, athletes' use of doping and anabolic-androgenic steroids is banned since they could give a sportsperson an unfair advantage over the competitors who do not use them, and therefore, undermine sports values like teamwork and fair play. Additionally, performance-enhancing substances have also been determined to have various negative health consequences (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2019).

However, several superstar professional athletes are still factually or legally guilty for PEDs’ usage. Whitman (2007) argues that the society’s implicit approval of PEDs is a positive externality that has been effective in overshadowing the two negative externalities, i.e., the decrease in the level of confidence that the public has on the sports’ integrity and the PEDs’ negative effects on the nation’s youth. Thus, the author determines that PEDs’ usage in sports by professional athletes has become an endemic ethical crisis in the society instead of contributing towards the improvement in social welfare. The ‘‘winner bias’’ concerning PEDs’ usage by athletes has significantly clouded their judgment to an extent that they cannot accurately and appropriately realize the consequences of their decisions to the general society (Whitman, 2007). Thus, by trying to win at all cost and by all means, the athletes jeopardize the society’s wellbeing.

Athletics coaches have a significant role to play in managing the situation. First, whether they suspend the implicated athletes or release public statements against such acts, how they handle the cases significantly influences public perception. Secondly, coaches should engage the athletes in ethical values education (Balci & Erdeveciler, 2017). The coaches can engage the athletes in teaching and workshops where they can be trained on the fact that performance-enhancement drugs threaten their health, unfairly enhance performance, and violate the spirit of sportsmanship. They also play an integral role in sports ethics because of their immense ability to set and influence the team culture (STU, 2019). They should involve the players in open discussions to inform them that the use of the prohibited substances is unethical, immoral, unsportsmanlike, and illegal.

References Balci, V., & Erdeveciler, Ö. (2017, May). Some Sports Managers’ Views about Values Education through Sports. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(5), 197-203. CBC News. (2016, March 8). Maria Sharapova The Latest Athlete To Be Caught Doping. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from CBC News: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/sharapova-list-drug-athletes-1.3480918 Mayo Clinic Staff. (2019, May 18). Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/performance-enhancing-drugs/art-20046134 Specktor, B. (2018, February 13). Why Is It So Easy to Cheat at the Olympics? (Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036.) Retrieved October 20, 2020, from Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/61747-how-widespread-olympic-doping.html STU. (2019, October 25). Ethical Issues in Sports Administration. (St. Thomas University) Retrieved October 20, 2020, from St Thomas University (STU) Online: https://online.stu.edu/articles/business/ethical-issues-sports-administration.aspx Whitman, J. H. (2007, November 12). Winning At All Costs: Using Law & Economics To Determine The Proper Role Of Government In Regulating The Use Of Performance-Enhancing Drugs In Professional Sports. University of Illinois Law Review, 2008.