Aussie drugs scandal shows money talks in sport

By Tulsen Tollett BBC Sport presenter and former professional rugby player

The line from a Rolling Stones classic immediately sprang to mind last week when the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) released its report into the untoward activities and practices being used in sport down under.

Some sportspeople, no matter how high they climb, or how many trophies they win, just "can't get no satisfaction".

When the federal justice minster and the sports minister front a press conference flanked by the heads of the five major sporting organisations in the country - Australian football, rugby league, rugby union, cricket and football - the alarm bells ring.

Even more so when not an inkling of what is about to unfold has been leaked. Solid work indeed.

The desire to beat the game has always been around, it is just that these days the stakes are so much higher.

When you are talking about an industry worth $9bn (5.89bn) a year in the country where it is being brought into disrepute alone, then there's concern - because whether you are on the side of criminality or fighting it, the one thing that rings true for both sides is that money talks.

Ask yourself this question. How much knowledge do you have now as a sports fan, compared to five years ago, when it comes to talking about performance enhancers? When you think about it, it truly is scary.

I was lucky enough to play professional rugby league and rugby union in both Australia and England. In the late 1990s Creatine Phosphate was the new legal-based fad as, in simple terms, it allowed you greater levels of energy for a longer period of time.

But where to go from there, how to improve further? It is a rhetorical question but some may well choose to explore it - and that is when the issues arise.

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Aussie drugs scandal shows money talks in sport