Omerta. The code of silence amongst a community and a refusal to give evidence to outsiders.
The term was first coined in regards to mafia, but has most recently been used to describe the silence that exists from cyclists as the anti-doping associations try to clean up the sport. The analogy being that fellow professionals refuse to give up dopers in the sport, no matter what illegal drug-taking that might be going on.
It's clearly something that Andy Murray has no interest in. After Maria Sharapova dropped a bomb on the tennis world by admitting that she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open.
The reaction to Sharapova's admission has been mixed, with the likes of Serena Williams coming out in her defence and Head extending their sponsorship with the Russian.
Scotland's Andy Murray isn't in the same camp. He's been the most vocal opponent in the tennis community and thinks what Sharapova has been doing was wrong:
It’s not up to me to decide the punishment, but if you’re taking performance-enhancing drugs and you fail a drugs test, you have to get suspended.
I think taking a prescription drug that you don’t necessarily need, but just because it’s legal, that’s wrong, clearly. That’s wrong. If you’re taking a prescription drug and you’re not using it for what that drug was meant for, then you don’t need it, so you’re just using it for the performance-enhancing benefits that drug is giving you. And I don’t think that that’s right.
Murray was puzzled by Head's decision to extend their association with Sharapova, while other sponsors like Nike, Tag Heuer, and Porsche dropped the five-times grand slam winner calling it a "strange stance" to take before more information comes out.
He did reserve some praise for Sharapova for being relatively open about the issue, but is calling on all sports to do more to test athletes:
I think all sports can do more. It’s better than it was a few years ago, last year I got tested a lot but this year I’ve been tested twice so far this year, three months into the year, which is clearly not enough.
Just another reminder that Andy Murray the person is quite a likeable guy.
[Independent UK]
