The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has written to its members to raise awareness of the dangers of tramadol.
Tramadol is a strong, prescription-only painkiller that has been cited by former Liverpool and England international goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland, as the source of an addiction that almost destroyed him
On January 1, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will add tramadol to its prohibited list and, from that point onwards, anybody caught with it in their system will face a lengthy ban.
The PFA has taken the unusual step of emailing its members, including 5,000 current footballers, to highlight the risk the drug potentially poses and make it clear there is a deadline approaching, beyond which there will be serious consequences.
“The concern we have is there is an explicit acknowledgement that it is an addictive substance,” says Ben Wright, the PFA’s director of external affairs.
“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.”
GO DEEPER
Why football fears tramadol: ‘It’s an evil drug – it nearly killed me’
The Football Association, the Premier League, the English Football League and the Women’s Super League are aware of…
 has written to its members to raise awareness of the dangers of tramadol. Tramadol is a strong, prescription-only painkiller that has been cited by former Liverpool and England international goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland, as the source of an addiction that almost destroyed him On January 1, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will add tramadol to its prohibited list and, from that point onwards, anybody caught with it in their system will face a lengthy ban. The PFA has taken the unusual step of emailing its members, including 5,000 current...){kind=link}