Another New York Jets player is suspended for violating NFL’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

Erik Ainge, Jets rookie quarterback, is suspended for four games for testing positive for an unnamed prohibited compound. He will serve the suspension without pay.

“We respect the league’s decision and look forward to Erik’s return,” a Jets spokesman said.

Ainge is eligible to return to the team’s roster Dec. 15. His four-game absence, however, is not expected to cause that much impact on the team’s output since he’s on injured reserve Oct.29 for a foot injury.

The 22-year-old Ainge was drafted by the Jets in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Ainge comes from a family of athletes. His father, Doug Ainge, played basketball in college. Danny Ainge, former NBA and MLB, player is his uncle. His grandfather, Don Ainge, was drafted by the MLB’s Boston Red Sox, but did not take the offer.

Ainge’s teammate Jesse Chatman was suspended a week before the start of the season. He has rejoined the team Oct. 6.

The Jets’ running back was among several players who reportedly tested positive for the banned diuretic bumetanide, considered a masking agent for anabolic steroids.

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Bobsledder Serge Despres appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn, or at least minimize, the penalty CAS had previously imposed. Instead, the bobsleigh from New Brunswick receives a harsher sanction.

CAS initially decided to ban Despres for 20 months for testing positive for the steroid nandrolone during in an out-of-competition testing on August last year in Calgary. After hearing Despres’ appeal, CAS decided to extend the penalty into a two-year ban.

This recent development has been announced by the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport. No official word yet from CAS.

It was reported that Despres’ sample showed 0.9 nanogram of nandrolone.

Despres blamed a tainted supplement for his failed dope test, and in February this year he announced he would contest the original decision of CAS.

Other athletes who allegedly tested positive for nandrolone (commonly sold by the trade name Deca-Durabolin) include tennis player Petr Korda, UFC’s Sean Sherk, and NFL’s Mike Cloud and Shawne Merriman.

Nandrolone, especially with a decanoate ester, is a long-acting steroid which means that it can stay in the system for a long period. There are reports that metabolites can still be detected even after 18 months of last use of nandrolone.

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As the National Football League is presently embroiled in a doping controversy, its Canadian counterpart, the CFL, is still without a doping policy to test players for anabolic steroids and related subtances.

From the Toronto Star:

As the Grey Cup approaches, the CFL remains the only major pro sports league in North America that doesn’t test players for drugs.

Both the league and the players’ union say the situation will change, with each side recognizing drug testing will help the league’s image, the players’ health and the overall sense of fair play.

But no one can say for sure how soon anything will happen.

The reason behind the lack of league-wide drug testing program is not procrastination on the part of both the league and the union; money is the main obstacle.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport oversees drug testing in Canadian amateur sports, including university football. Spokesperson Rosemary Pittfield says the cost of drug tests varies widely, and though she hesitates to pinpoint a cost, she offers a rough estimate of $500 per test. Add in the drug education and rehabilitation the CFL is seeking, and costs multiply quickly.

Money is not a problem in the NFL, where the league generated $7 billion (U.S.) in revenue last season, and where the union collects dues from a membership whose median salary nears $800,000.

Obviously, the CFL doesn’t have that type of cash flow.

CFL was officially founded in 1958 and is considered to be the most popular major league sports in Canada next to National Hockey League. Currently, the CFL has eight teams playing divided into two divisions, the East and the West. Each division has four teams each.

CFL’s active teams are Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Grey Cup refers to both the championship season of the CFL and the trophy awarded to the winning team.

In the 2007 Grey Cup, the Roughriders won over the Blue Bombers.

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NFL’s independent drug administrator reportedly knew of the StarCaps weight-loss supplement containing the banned compound bumetanide but failed to inform the players about this fact.

This has come up during the appeal hearing of three New Orleans Saints players with NFL’s top officials. The testimony of Dr. John Lombardo was disclosed by Atty. David Cornwell via email to the Associated Press. Cornwell is representing Saints’ Deuce McAllister, Will Smith and Charles Grant.

According to Cornwell’s email, Lombardo learned in late 2006 that the StarCaps product contained bumetanide, a loop diuretic considered to be a masking agent for anabolic steroids and other prohibited compounds.

Apparently, Lombardo intentionally omitted the warning because “he feared that a specific warning regarding StarCaps could be used as a defense to alleged violations of the steroid policy that involved weight reduction products other than StarCaps.”

Cornwell, however, said that Lombardo’s decision to not disclose the information that bumetanide was in StarCaps “may have exposed NFL players to the significant health risks associated with the unintentional ingestion of diuretics.”

“If Dr. Lombardo had notified NFL players that StarCaps contained Bumetanide, Will, Deuce and Charles would have never used the product to lose weight,” Cornwell said.

Other players who got implicated with the bumetanide controversy include defensive tackle Grady Jackson of Atlanta and defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of Minnesota.

The Williamses are also appealing their cases.

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