England stars allowed by WADA to use Viagra to help players rise to World Cup altitude

England stars looking for a quick fix to elevate their performance against Mexico would be allowed to use Viagra.

Thomas Tuchel has already stressed how hard the conditions will be for the Three Lions playing at altitude in their next World Cup clash.

Getty

England have had precious little time to come to terms with returning to Mexico’s Azteca stadium after beating DR Congo 2-1.

Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute strike showed Tuchel’s defence is far from rock solid, while the attack lacked penetration before Kane slipped one, and then two, past the goalie.

England now turn their attentions to their last-16 clash in Mexico against the World Cup co-hosts at the Azteca, live on talkSPORT.

The site of El Tri’s 87,523-capacity venue is located at 7,220 feet – around 2,240 metres – above sea level.

Tuchel has said that it will be impossible for England to adapt to the high altitude in time after travelling from their Kansas City base.

But a set of John Stones and an even bigger Dan Burn could be the cure…

The case for Viagra

The prescription medication is best known for treating erectile dysfunction but was initially developed as a high blood pressure fix.

‘Vitamin V’ widens the blood vessels in the lungs after blocking an enzyme that restricts them, which is crucial at high altitudes.

The thin atmosphere and low concentration of oxygen make it harder to pump oxygen around the body and maintain stamina.

By reducing lung blood pressure, Viagra would counteract the feelings of early fatigue and dizziness caused by high altitudes.

Getty

Wouldn’t they fail doping tests?

No, Viagra isn’t on the 2026 list of prohibited substances published by the World Anti-Doping Agency from the start of January.

WADA have done extensive research into its active substance, sildenafil, and determined that it is not a significant performance enhancer at or near sea level.

A project into the athletic benefits of Viagra in 2015 was reported to have found an improved ‘exercise performance at high altitude (>3,800 m) in a subset of athletes by greater than 35 per cent’.

However, its conclusion that sildenafil is ‘unlikely to exert beneficial effects in oxygen delivery or exercise performance at altitudes under 4,000 m for the vast majority of the endurance-trained men’ has led to some unique experiments.

In 2019, Argentine side Union de Santa Fe used Viagra to combat altitude at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, 2,850m above sea level.

Have England ever considered it?

The FA were forced to issue a public statement correcting a 2009 report that Viagra was planned for the 2010 World Cup.

It was stated that Fabio Capello’s side could ingest the anti-impotence drug to cope with the South African altitude.

But an FA spokesman said: “The England medical staff are conducting detailed research with a variety of experts ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“However, there has been no discussion with regard to Viagra and certainly no plans for the players to take it in South Africa at the tournament.”

That’s not to say no England players have taken viagra, with members of that squad staging a prank on an unfortunate Carlton Cole.

‘Playing with three legs’

“I was away with England,” Cole said on In The Mixer. “I actually forgot about this before speaking with Jermain Defoe. He was part of it, he’s a wrong ‘un! He spiked me basically.

“This is what it was. We used to get little supplements with our food sometimes in the morning. Just supplements. So Wayne Rooney, he put something down that I didn’t know, it was this little thing.

“He goes, ‘Oh, take that as well. That’s the new one.’ It was blue. I can’t remember exactly how it went, but I’ve gone, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ I just want to be around the lads.

“I’m trying to impress. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing everything. So, I’m going, ‘Yeah, man.’ The thing is, I’ve taken it, washed it back, but I didn’t notice anything, and everyone’s laughing behind me.”

“It’s only until [I’m] like, ‘Why is everyone laughing?’ And everyone’s going, ‘Well, that was Viagra that you took. That blue pill.’ I was like, ‘Oh, serious?'”

He added: “But obviously, how am I supposed to even know? Who’s come to training with a Viagra pill anyway? Like, what are you doing? And then you give it to me.

“Like, it’s bang out of order. Anything could have happened, you know? And a lot did happen that day at training. Nice to see you. Nice to say that I was probably the quickest on the pitch, yeah. So I was running with three legs.”