PFA send official warning to pro footballers about 'evil drug' that 'nearly killed' former Liverpool star

The PFA have sent out an official warning to players over the impending ban of a "dangerous drug".

Tramadol, a prescription painkiller, is set to be deemed a prohibited substance by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on January 1 - having made an announcement last year.

WADA gave a 14-month window for users and now the PFA have penned an email to all of its members, which includes 5,000 current footballers.

They have done so to highlight the risk the drug poses and the sanctions which will come if players are found to be using once 2024 rolls around.

Image: Getty

Ben Wright, the PFA’s director of external affairs, compared it to heroin because of its addictive nature.

“The concern we have is there is an explicit acknowledgement that it is an addictive substance, Wright said, as per The Athletic.

“It’s habit-forming, it’s an opiate and it’s often referred to as being in the same family as heroin. It can sound like an extreme comparison, but it is fairly well accepted.”

According to Wright, anyone who ends up failing a test is likely to be hit with a ban between two and four years.

Image: Getty

Former England, Liverpool and Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland has admitted to taking 2,500 milligrams of Tramadol a day, first starting because of back spasms while he was at Sheffield Wednesday.

His addiction left him hallucinating and having sleepless nights, resulting in checking into rehab.

"I found out when I went into rehab that I was taking the equivalent of six shots of heroin a day,'" he told The Athletic.

"It is an evil, evil drug. It nearly killed me, and should have killed me.

At the start, it gives you a good feeling. It makes you feel happy, if you have anxiety or anything like that. I was using it for pain, yes, but I was using it for anxiety more than anything.

"But it messes you up mentally. I knew after three months that I was in trouble, that I'd become reliant on it.

"In the end, you build up such a tolerance to it, it doesn't really do anything. It's just that your body needs it, because you're addicted."

A few months back, Everton midfielder Dele Alli opened up on his sleeping pill addiction which led to him checking himself into rehab.

The former England international said the tablets are "going around more than people realise in football".

Topics: PFA, Premier League

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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