In many professional sports, there is an increase in the number of athletes using banned substances to improve their performance. What are the causes of the phenomenon and what are some of the possible solutions?

There is an increase in the usage of performance-enhancement

drugs

by professional

athletes

across various sports.

This

development has occurred because of the drug's easy access and fatigue caused by playing more

games

. The possible solutions to

this

are fewer

games

and severe punishments. One of the causes is that these banned substances are easily available in the market for

athletes

to buy, even without prescriptions, thereby causing their usage to rise. Another cause of

this

scenario is the increase in number of

games

the

athletes

have to play.

As a result

, the need to stay fit and recover in time

also

increases. Because banned substances like steroids help in

this

quick recovery, professional players use them .

For example

, Paul Pogba, a famous Manchester United footballer, confessed in an interview that the reason he used to take steroids before matches was to keep performing regularly at the highest level,

otherwise

Manchester United would have sold him. One of the solutions to these problems is, obviously, fewer matches. If

athletes

do not have to play more than twice a week,

then

they can receive adequate rest and recover on their own, thereby reducing the need to take the

drugs

. Another solution is to make the punishment for doping very severe. If sports professionals understand that the usage of illegal

drugs

for boosting performance comes at a cost of a negative impact on their careers, it will discourage them from consuming.

For instance

, FIFA introduced a rule to ban footballers for a couple of years, if caught in a doping test.

This

was followed by a significant decrease in reports of failed doping tests before football matches. In conclusion, the pressure to perform at the top level, and easy access to banned

drugs

causes

athletes

to consume them.

However

,

this

can be solved by reducing the number of

games

and increasing the severity of the punishments.