Abstract

Edjerunuketa O. Nathaniel, Okpara J. Micheal and R. O. David

The use of drugs in sports regardless of chronological age of sportsmen and women to gain an unfair advantage over opponents is not only repressive but dangerous to the health of the athletes. This study examined the extent to which the chronological age of elite athletes in Nigeria is closely connected to their use of doping substance s (ergogenic, psychoactive and multiple drugs). A total of 510 sportsmen and women from eleven popular sports in Nigeria were selected purposefully using simple and stratified random sampling techniques. A structured que stionnaire was used to collect relevant data for the study. The data collected were analyzed using de scriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Findings revealed that there was a significant influence of chronological age on doping behaviours of sportsmen and women in Nigeria . Significant relationship was not found with respect to age and sex interaction effect on doping behaviours of sportsmen and women. Researchers advised that athletes’ support personnel should closely and purposefully monitor sportsmen and women in Nigeria during training se ssion to save Nigeria from embarrassment and disgrace being placed on countrie s whose athletes are caught using doping substance s.