Jon Conway and Jeff Parke

October 16th, 2008 filed in Soccer

New York Red Bulls Players, Jon Conway and Jeff Parke, have been suspended 10 games for violating the Major League Soccer (MLS) policy on performance-enhancing substances. This incident is the first confirmed performance-enhancing drug (PED) case for Major League Soccer in its entire 13 years of operation.

From the MLS Press Release :

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber announced on Thursday that he has suspended and fined New York Red Bulls players Jon Conway and Jeff Parke for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Policy by testing positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites, performance enhancing substances.

Each player is suspended for 10 MLS games, including regular season and playoffs, effective immediately, and each has also been fined 10 percent of his annual salary. During the suspension, the players may not participate in any other competitions.

The players purchased and ingested an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing ATD, a substance that metabolizes into boldenone. Both ATD and boldenone are banned substances under MLS’s SABH policy. The supplement was purchased from a vitamin store that is part of a national chain.

“MLS has one of the strictest drug policies in professional sports and holds its athletes both responsible and accountable for what they put into their bodies,” Garber said. “This is an important statement as to the high standards to which we hold our players.”

The New York Post has more reaction from the team :

“Jon and Jeff have been valuable members of the Red Bulls organization, both on the field and in the Greater New York community,” Red Bull New York Managing Director Erik Stover said in a statement. “This is a sad day for our club and our fans. We are extremely disappointed that Jon and Jeff have tested positive for a substance banned by MLS’s policy.

“We have met with both players and they informed us that they ingested an over-the-counter supplement that unknowingly contained a banned substance. However, the Red Bulls support MLS’ policy and believe that performance enhancing drugs have no place in professional sports.”

Goalkeeper Jon Conway, an 8 years veteran of the league, has started all 28 matches for the Red Bulls this season. His record was 9-10-9 with a 1.5 goals against average. Defender Jeff Parke has started 23 matches this season, and was 4th on the team in minutes player.

So what do you think, did Jon Conway and Jeff Parke CHEAT, or were they BEAT by bad supplements?