OPINION: Did Proteas bowler Kagiso Rabada deserve to be banned?

If a professional athlete is going to have their integrity dragged through the mud, it had better be for a good reason.

The only time they should be lambasted for taking a prohibited substance is if they’ve cheated, and considering his situation, Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has every reason to feel aggrieved.

It remains unclear what recreational drug was found in Rabada’s system during the SA20 tournament earlier this year – there are four of them on the list of banned substances – but based on the fact that he was suspended for only a month, it is widely believed that he smoked marijuana.

It has been revealed that whatever substance he ingested was taken out of competition, and it shouldn’t even be relevant what he took if it was not a performance enhancing drug.

Yes, there are laws which restrict us from taking certain substances, and I’m sure we all agree that this is fine because some things can cause serious damage within our society.

But the World Anti-Doping Agency and the SA Institute for Drug Free Sport are not the police. It’s not their job to punish people for breaking the law. It’s their job to stop cheats who are gaining an unfair advantage over their opponents.

Bringing sport into disrepute

There is an argument that can be made that an athlete is bringing the sport into disrepute if they are caught taking recreational drugs.

But none of us would even know, and therefore there would be no reason to punish Rabada, if anti-doping bodies didn’t tell us in the first place.

There are some recreational drugs that could help an athlete in competition. Marijuana might calm a golfer’s nerves. Cocaine might give an explosive sprinter a boost.

But if they’re not gaining an advantage and they’re doing these things out of competition, as much as it might be frowned upon by people, it should be the choice of the individual, knowing full well that there are legal consequences if they are caught by the cops.

Rabada has been a committed servant to South African cricket and he has consistently been one of the Proteas’ best bowlers throughout his international career.

It seems unfair that he would face public scrutiny around the world for taking a recreational drug out of competition. This cloud will now be carried with him for the rest of his career.

Focus on cheats

Anti-doping bodies are doing a great job in trying to weed out cheaters in professional sport, but perhaps they need to reassess what they’re testing for and when.

If Rabada has not cheated, and he has done something behind closed doors in his personal time, whether we agree with what he did is irrelevant. A ban seems unnecessary.

Those in charge of catching drug cheats should focus on removing people from sport who are gaining an unfair advantage, not people who smoke a joint at a party.