Lie detector tests used in fight against doping in football

17.08.2009

Italian football club Siena will take a novel approach to combating doping at the club, by submitting the club's players to lie detector tests.

Siena, which plays in Italy's Serie A, has taken the decision to use polygraph testing to protect the image of the club.

"If a player gets banned for drugs, the club suffers economic damage from the loss of an investment and sporting damage because the inability to field him can hurt results," says team psychologist Umberto Zerbini.

Zerbini says that the system, which was developed by experts at the University of Padua, has been used by Siena in private for a little while, though plans are afoot to make the system available to other clubs and sports insurance companies.

He also believes that the system can have other implications, for instance in assessing a player's psychological mindset after a serious injury.

SOURCE: ESPN

Louis Rovner, Ph.D., Los Angeles, California, 04.10.2009 09:44:

I believe that the team made an intelligent decision. So long as the polygraph tests are conducted properly (there is one technique better than all others) they will have virtually conclusive proof as to whether or not a player has been using drugs.

Louis Rovner, Ph.D.

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Lie detector tests used in fight against doping in football

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