The latest scandal of Vietnamese football, where a former captain of the national team was caught under hallucination allegedly caused by drugs after causing a car accident, has rung the alarm bell that drug and doping tests have long been neglected by local sport watchdogs. Prior to the case of Nguyen Huy Hoang, who police announced Tuesday had been under the influence of alcohol rather than drugs, some football players have been caught red-handed using drugs or storing them and other banned chemicals. The absence of the required doping and drug tests, and a lax management of sporting authorities, has opened wide door for many athletes of all sports to use doping and drugs with impunity. “Conducting doping and drug tests on athletes have totally been ignored, causing many pitiful incidents for Vietnamese sports, and even creating threats to the society,” said Professor Duong Nghiep Chi, former head of the Institute for Sports and Physical Training Science. Chi said he knows a handful of athletes who have used performance-enhancing drugs during their competition without worry of being detected as no tests have ever been conducted. Vuong Bich Thang, head of the General Department of Sporting and Physical Training, said undergoing doping test will soon become an obligation for local athletes once an under-progress circular regarding health supervision is completed. “The Doping and Sports Medical Center will be in charge of taking and testing samples from athletes,” he said. At present, samples have to be sent to an overseas center for testing, which costs US$200 each. Forgot to test The Vietnam Football Federation is currently the only sporting federation that conducts drug tests on its athletes -- those playing at the V-League and First Division. But its chairman Nguyen Trong Hy noted that the tests are conducted “on a small and limited scale.” An official from the federation’s medical division added however that the Vietnam Professional Football (VPF), which organizes the country’s football leagues, has not asked it to conduct tests for the concluded 2012 season. “As this is the first time they organized the leagues, they must have forgotten the task,” said Hy. VFF will ask VPF to appropriately fulfill the task in the coming season, he added. “Players who keep or use drugs and other banned substances will receive strict penalties,” he pressed.