The Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts have announced a one year deal with running back, Ricky Williams who is currently serving a drug suspension.

The deal has been in the pipelines for the last few weeks, but was only announced on Sunday.

The former Miami Dolphins running back was suspended from the NFL for his fourth violation of the league’s anti-drugs policy. After testing positive for marijuana on three occasions, the sportsman then tested positive to another banned substance that has not been publicly identified by the league.

After a fourth violation of the drugs policy, a player is required to wait 12 months before applying for reinstatement to the NFL.

No matter your view on drugs in sport, questions will be asked when enough is enough and also if the Canadian Football League did the right thing in offering an alternative to a player who had already failed four drug tests.

For elite athletes whose public profiles (not to mention massive salaries) make them role models for youth, many people will be not only disappointed in William’s own performance concerning drugs, but also in the seeming tolerance of the league itself in allowing so many violations prior to a significant suspension. By comparison, Australian rugby players are banned from all competition (including international leagues) for 2 years upon their first positive drug test.

With such salaries, benefits and the public profile involved in football, is it too much to expect that standards for drugs be higher in professional sporting leagues?