In 2008, Mario Jardel, one of the most important goalscorers in world football for a decade (he was twice Golden Boot winner), admitted his addiction to cocaine.
“In 2002 I overdosed on cocaine and stayed awake for seven days. For those of you watching me, it’s no example. I hired women, I stayed in that life thinking that nothing was going to happen to me, that everything was fine,” he admitted in 2022 during his participation in the reality show ‘Big Brother’.
In 2019, he told ‘Youtube Pilhado’ that “I got into that world of drugs out of curiosity when I was playing for clubs in Europe. I met some people and they offered it to me. I started using it regularly when I was on vacation because during competition I had doping controls. It’s one of the problems of football. You have a lot of money and there are many traps, friendships, temptations and curiosities”.
Laszlo Boloni admits that Jardel was his most problematic player and recalls his cocaine problems
Laszlo Boloni, coach of the Sporting CP team that won the Primeira Liga in 2002, admitted that Mario Jardel (Fortaleza, 1973) took drugs, specifically cocaine, during his time at the Lisbon club.
Losing Mario Jardel in my second season at Sporting was a big defeat for me
The Romanian coach told the podcast ‘Vorbitorincii’ that Jardel was the most problematic footballer he coached during his entire career.
I used to write the line-up on the board, put Jardel in the starting eleven, and the doctor would tell me that it was not possible because Jardel had… (he runs his fingers over his nose)
“Losing Mario Jardel in my second season at Sporting was a big blow for me. He had scored more than 40 goals (55 in total) in the first season; in the second he stayed at six (he finished with 12),” he lamented.
They tested him to see if the doctor could authorize him to play, and he tested positive
Boloni shared that Mario Jardel, European Golden Boot winner in 1999 with Porto and in 2002 with Sporting Portugal, missed 15 of the 34 league games in the 2002-2003 season due to his alleged cocaine positives.
“His parents were alcoholics, that was the problem”
“The most difficult player to coach, and the one I had the most problems with, was Jardel. His parents were alcoholics, that was the problem. I would write the line-up on the board, in front of the players, I would put him in the starting eleven, and the doctor would tell me that it was not possible because Jardel had… (he runs his fingers through his nose). They would test him to see if the doctor could authorize him to play, and he would test positive,” Boloni described.
He was a young coach, I tried very hard. I’m calm, I did what I thought was right
Luis Horta, former director of the National Anti-Doping Council’s analysis laboratory, clarified that Mario Jardel never tested positive in an anti-doping control while playing for Porto (1996-2000) and Sporting (2001-2003).
Laszlo Boloni also explained his attempt to help Jardel recover: “I was a young coach, I tried very hard. I’m calm, I did what I thought was right.”
The 72-year-old Romanian coach recalled a conversation he had with Jardel to help him escape the clutches of cocaine: “Look, I’m going to take you to the training camp with me. We’ll lock ourselves there, me in my room and you in yours. We’ll talk, eat, train, run. He agreed. I kept the car keys and slept with him in the training center. I worked overtime that second season. Also, I called Brazil, talked to his wife, Karen, and his daughter. It all started well, but then it turned terrible.”
“After six days he said to me: ‘I don’t feel well, I’ll have to leave for a while, but I’ll be back’. I said to him: ‘Mario, I know you. You’re not going anywhere. Let’s go out, run, exercise’. And he said: ‘Yes, yes, but I’ll be back’. I knew he wouldn’t come back. He made a call, a taxi came and he disappeared… Indeed, he appeared the next day, but the doctor started to greet me,” he said.
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