National Football League

NFLPA challenged to start HGH testing

Published Dec. 1, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

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The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency challenged the NFL Players Association to change its stance when it comes to testing for human growth hormone in the NFL.

"The players are making a very good go trying to say it is not a problem in their sport," WADA director general David Howman said at at doping conference at NFL headquarters on Thursday. "If there isn't a problem, why not agree to testing?"

The NFL and the players union actually did agree to blood testing for HGH — a synthetic injectable drug that, in large enough doses, can aid in recovery from strenuous workouts and help build lean muscle — in the league's new collective bargaining agreement over the summer. But NFLPA officials have blocked implementation of the test, citing concerns about the test's effectiveness.

Since that time, Major League Baseball came to terms with its players to test for HGH as part its new CBA.

"HGH has been used with impunity for 20 years," Howman said. "We all know that. It's being used and abused."

Howman was one of several anti-doping experts and scientists attending the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) conference on Thursday. The PCC is a consortium of leagues — led by the NFL and MLB — along with the US Anti-Doping Agency and the US Olympic Committee.

No officials from the NFLPA were at the event.

Athletes who compete in Olympic sports have been subjected to a version of the HGH test since 2004. The NFLPA has questioned the population study used to back the screening method, claiming that the study isn't applicable to NFL players.

"It's nonsense," said USADA CEO Travis Tygart, who has worked with the NFL and NFLPA on the issue. "It's a total stall tactic. There is no scientific proof out there that ethnicity, weight, body mass or position on the football field has any effect on the ratios of HGH the body produces and that's what it measured."