Doping Clean Sport: Elite Athletes’ Attitudes, Role, and Use
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52633/ssper.v3i1.31Keywords:
Athletes, Attitude, Sports, DopingAbstract
"Doping clean sport" emphasizes preserving honesty and fairness in sports competitions by strictly banning illegal performance-enhancing substances and techniques. This concept, rooted in fair play, encourages athletes to showcase natural skills and dedication rather than seeking unfair advantages through artificial means. Such substances compromise sports integrity and pose health risks. Organizations like WADA play a crucial role by enforcing testing procedures, raising awareness, and promoting clean competition. A doping-free environment safeguards sports credibility, athlete well-being, and motivates future athletes to strive ethically. Doping, involving the use of banned substances for performance boosts, creates an unequal playing field and undermines fair competition. Elite athletes, as role models, are essential in promoting clean sports. This study aimed to investigate elite athletes' attitudes toward doping, its prevalence, and its role in advocating drug-free sports in Pakistan. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey, data were gathered across various sports at national and international levels. A self-developed questionnaire assessed attitudes, self-reported drug use, and perceptions of promoting clean sports. Among 168 elite athletes (96 males, 72 females), findings showed a positive attitude toward doping-free sports (mean score = 3.43). Despite this, 7.7% admitted to doping, highlighting the challenges in eradication. Significant gender and competition-level differences in doping attitudes and promotion roles reveal diverse engagement with doping practices.
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