But they're really, really not. No one says you're not allowed to treat your coughs. What it does say is that there are banned substances, and ephedrine - in high enough concentrations - is one of them.
So, it is advised that footballers do not take any medicines that haven't been approved by their club doctor, because if they do so, this exact thing could happen.
Say you're a footballer, who wants to cheat, so you take ephedrine. You then get caught by a urine sample. You tell the anti-doping people that you'd just taken some cough medicine, so that explains the presence of the drug in your urine. What should they do? Let you off? No. The rules are set up in such a way that you can't plead ignorance as a defence; nor can you say you were caught with the drugs accidentally because you're told not to take them by your club.
At worst, Paddy has broken the rules to gain an advantage. At best, he's been very stupid and made it look like he might have something to hide. The anti-doping people can't just let him off because he says he took cough medicine. They have to investigate, and quite rightly too.
Whatever punishment he gets, I will stand by. I can't defend what he's done, whether it's cheating or just being an idiot. Either way, the damage is done.
