By BRIAN LEWIS
Red Bull starting keeper Jon Conway and centerback Jeff Parke were suspended for violating the MLS Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health (SABH) Policy. They tested positive for androstatriendione (ATD) and boldenone metabolites, both performance-enhancing drugs.
“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,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a release. “This is an important statement as to the high standards to which we hold our players.” Garber’s statement rings true; MLS is one of the few U.S. pro sports leagues to test for ATD. Apparently according to the last CBA the league has discretion on the length of bans for these types of violations, presumably based on the drug in question.
Parke and Conway were each suspended for 10 MLS games, including regular season and playoffs _ effective immediately _ and fined 10 percent of his annual salary. They can’t play in any other competitions, either.
“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.”
They bought and ingested an over-the-counter nutritional supplement containing ATD, a substance that metabolizes into boldenone. Both ATD and boldenone are banned by the league. The supplement was purchased from a vitamin store that is part of a national chain.
Danny Cepero is the likely call in goal over Caleb Sewell-Patterson or Terry Boss, older brother of Giants tight end Kevin Boss. Replacing Parke could be tough, because he’s been arguably the most consistant defender and the only one suited to play the right side in a 3-5-2. Andrew Boyens doesn’t have the speed and Chris Leitch doesn’t have the size.
It may force Juan Carlos Osorio to go with four in the back, starting Boyens and Gabriel Cichero inside, with Leitch wide right. But we’ll see soon enough….
How do you think the Red Bulls handle this, needing results from their last two games to hold into a playoff berth?