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The problem is that you'll still be paid before getting banned. This is the problem cycling and other PED rampant sports face.

You can take away the medals but you can't take away their money and you can't take away the fact that they've enjoyed their fame while it lasted

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Sure, but you can probably make the sport a bit safer. In cycling or tennis, the lasting effect of PED use (after stopping) is being more competitive. In football, the lasting effect is being more dangerous to other players on the field. That's a huge distinction.

But even if you make the penalty a ban, players are still incentivizing to try to cheat the system because they'll get paid. You have to take away both the financial and glory rewards of PEDs

They lose money when they're banned.

More often than not, they wouldn't be able to make the first batch of money without the aid of PEDs. This is pressure that even MLB minor league players face.

This seems like an almost irreducible problem. For existing players, the risk of consequences is a deterrent. For prospective players, the risk is worthwhile for anyone who wouldn't be drafted without PEDs.

Yeah, agreed. I wasn't interpreting that as an attempt to end PED use, just to mitigate damage once it's found.

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