The reaction to the Sunday Times revealing a doping scandal which implicates Premier League clubs has been...quiet.
Well, relatively speaking, anyway. It would appear the supposed revelations have certainly not created the same kind of furore within the world of British sport as, say, Maria Sharapova's admission that she failed a drugs test, or the global-scaling scandal which rocked athletics just a few months ago.
Sky Sports, for their part, have contributed little other than adding the odd update to their yellow ticker, and once the Premier League clubs mentioned made vehement denials of all allegations, the news passed almost gravitationally down the various social media feeds.
In fairness, there are all sorts of legal connotations to covering such a story in depth, and perhaps the inertia of continuous drugs scandals in sport over the past number of months has chipped away at the shock value. Perhaps, too, where the Premier League is concerned, those who influence such media movements just don't want to know.
One of the few footballers to come out with any sort of comment on the situation is Ireland international Kevin Doyle, and the Colorado Rapids striker's claim made for some interesting reading:
Self-deprecating humour aside, Doyle's assertion that he never even heard rumours of doping - whilst being part of a Premier League system which many will have you believe facilitates it - offers some pause for thought.
While no Premier League footballer in their right mind is going to come out and say anything to the contrary (or anything at all, for that matter), the 62-cap Ireland international really has no invested reason to comment on the situation at all, or at least to defend English football, so it's certainly interesting to hear him speak of his experiences within the league.
Doyle scored 37 Premier League goals during spells at Reading and Wolves. However, one possibly begrudging fan seems to believe the Wexford man owes an explanation for his abilities at underage level.
@KevinDoyle1983 @premierleague sure you played under 14's for Adamstown when you were 10 - explain that?!
— EamonPaulWalsh (@EamonWalsh79) April 3, 2016
It'll certainly be worth keeping an eye on former Premier League players in the coming weeks to see if many follow suit. One suspects they won't, but you also get the impression any further revelations will gain more traction on the social media scene than major news outlets who simply can't afford them to be true.
