Is this a banned substance or not?
I've heard a lot of stuff regarding the England squad today concerning the dropping of players, from a very itk source (sorry, i cannot divulge names). Im concerned.

Not on WADA's list. You do mean diazepam, aka, valium, right?

I'm not expert here but it isn't on WADA's banned list. However, Valium, if this is effectively what we are talking about here, is a class C drug and one should only be in possession of it with a prescription.

As I understand it, and it's important although not imperative I do, that's correct.

Is this a rugby league thing?

Apologies for spelling, I should have checked, I was spelling it phonetically... Very interesting that it is not on the banned substance list that seems to make a lot of sense. Yes, it's a rugby league thing, an England thing, and a Salford red devils thing. Go figure...

Wasn't it referred to in Alker's book?

No that was Alker Seltzer

, but Diazipan was a Welsh -Japanese Clown at the Tower Circus .

Don't give up the day job

Diazipan can make you sleepy and your reactions a lot slower, probably what made Kevin Sinfield miss that tackle in the last 20 Secs at Wembley !!

Amazing how a drug that makes you sleepy can be blamed for coming out of the defensive line too quickly!

I suppose such a story would raise a some issues:

[list* Could diazepam be used to gain a competitive advantage? (I have no idea.)
* Could diazepam mask the existence of banned substances in the body? (I have no idea.)
* Are players in possession of diazepam without prescription? (I suppose many people are and buy it online, but it’s not good exposure if you’re in the public eye, like a professional sportsperson.)
* Does this highlight the mental stresses on the modern, professional rugby league player and how they are struggling to cope? (Wouldn’t be surprising.)
[/list:u