Jose Canseco has reportedly refused to provide a urine sample for steroid testing while attempting to make a comeback in the Mexican Baseball League. Canseco had been invited to try out for the ”Tigres de Quintana Roo” of Cancun.
Canseco was on the verge of making the team when he refused to provide a sample for the anti-doping officers from the Mexico’s National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (CONADE). CONADE is the government agency that oversees Olympic sports in Mexico.
Cuauhtémoc Rodríguez Meza, CEO of the Tigres de Quintana Roos, announced that Jose Canseco would not be joining the team due to Canseco’s admission that he was using pharmaceuticals that are prohibited in the Mexican Baseball League.
Canseco has admitted that he is receiving testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) under the supervision of a licensed medical doctor in the United States. He has suggested that he has been on TRT since 2008.
Canseco should not have been surprised by the steroid testing. He acknowledged that the Minor League Baseball affiliate south of the border would conduct steroid testing on his Twitter account last month. MLB (and most anti-doping organizations) have a process by which an athlete can apply for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) that permits the use of an otherwise prohibited substance.
Canseco may have been in possession of valid and legal medical prescriptions for the drugs in his TRT protocol. But he apparently did not have a TUE for testosterone.
Canseco first publicly revealed that he was prescribed “testosterone” as part of TRT during the A&E documentary “Jose Canseco: The Last Shot”. The documentary was broadcast on October 20, 2008.
In the documentary, Canseco revealed he had completely discontinued the use of (illegal) anabolic steroids and was suffering from classical symptoms of anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH). The documentary showed Canseco receiving a testosterone gel from his doctor as a treatment for his symptoms.
From all accounts, it appears that Canseco has a legitimate medical need for testosterone replacement therapy. However, it is unclear why Canseco would try out for a steroid-tested team knowing that he did not have a TUE for testosterone.
The Quintana Roo CEO Meza acknowledged that he was aware of Canseco’s TRT and welcomed Canseco to return and play for the Roos once he has qualified for a TUE.
March 8, 2012 6:46 am via TweetCaster for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
March 8, 2012 8:21 am via webReplyRetweetFavoriteMarch 8, 2012 3:53 pm via TweetCaster for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
Source:
ESPNDeportes.com. (March 8, 2012). José Canseco no jugará en México. Retrieved from http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=1479633
