The news about Rafael Palmeiro testing positive for steroids are old news now and he received a 10 game suspension. You read that correct, 10 days! This is the same player who just in March testified before the US Congress against the use of steroids in baseball. From the article linked above:

The New York Times, citing a person in baseball with direct knowledge of the sport’s drug-testing program, reported on its Web site Tuesday that Palmeiro tested positive for the drug known by the brand name Winstrol, most notably linked to the Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson of Canada.

The person who said that Palmeiro tested positive for stanozolol did not want to be identified because the testing policy prohibits anyone in baseball from disclosing information about test results without authorization, the Times said.

Most recently the Mexican soccer federation (FMF) found itself in a very similar situation. Two players tested positive for a banned substance during their participation in the Confederations Cup. The situation was handled extremely poorly – $580,000 worth of poorly – but the players cannot be blamed for the decisions made by FMF executives. The irony that I am referring is the fact that both of these players were suspended for one year or 355 more days that Palmeiro will be off the field.

Salvador Carmona and Aaron Galindo will be suspended not only from International action with the national team but they are also suspended from any participation with their club teams. Since they will not be able to play at any competitive level, they will most likely miss the 2006 World Cup in Germany as well. Needless to say, I find it hard to believe that similar offenses can be treated so drastically different. Maybe MLB should look at their drug use policies?